Personal protection for six Cape schools

INLSA

The first specially-trained in house metro police officers will be deployed soon for safety at schools. Picture: Neil Baynes

Cape Argus - Six schools in the province are to receive the first specially trained “in house” metro police officers, deployed to keep pupils and teachers safe.

The School Resource Officers (SRO) pilot project is a combined effort by the City of Cape Town and the provincial departments of education and community safety, and is to kick off at Oscar Mpheta High, Bishop Lavis High, Chrystal High, Sizimisele Kuyasa High, Phoenix High and Lotus High schools.

The officers are fully trained and qualified metro police who will have completed additional specialist training by members of the National Association of School Resource Officers (Nasro) from the US.

They will be assigned to a school on a long-term basis “to identify and address the underlying problems which may lead to disorder, ill-discipline and crime, and implement strategies to overcome these problems to make schools and their immediate surroundings safer”.

The Nasro trainers will spend the following two weeks sharing expertise gleaned in the US, where they also worked closely with key partners such as the National Road Safety Foundation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the National Association of Police Athletic Activities, and anti-drunk driving campaigns.

JP Smith, the city’s mayoral committee member for safety, explained that the training empowered the metro police officers to deal expertly with safety issues, potential dangers and any threats - this on top of the training they already had.

The seven are due to take their positions at the beginning of next year.

Smith, Community Safety MEC Dan Plato and Education MEC Donald Grant, will officially launch the SRO pilot project on Thursday at a press conference.

Cape Argus