The Milwaukee school district again has school resource officers (SROs) in some of its buildings, after a legal dispute was resolved.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that officers from the Milwaukee Police Department have been assigned in pairs to patrol 11 schools across the city. The officers were deployed after Circuit Court Judge David Borowski found the city in contempt of court for failing to adhere to a state law and have a school resource officer program.
"Candidly, this only happened because of the, frankly, immense pressure that I put on the city," Borowski said after the officers were assigned.
After the district complied with the state law, Borowski rescinded his prior finding of contempt.
The Milwaukee district has been required to have a school resource officer program since Jan. 1, 2024, when the state law known as Act 12 went into effect. The district’s failure to follow the law instigated a lawsuit by a district parent and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
The officers assigned to Milwaukee schools completed the required training through the National Association of School Resource Officers on March 14, according to court filings. A total of 38 staff attended that training—31 police officers and seven supervising officers.
Activists against SROs have expressed concerns that an understaffed, under-resourced district has been too reliant on police to manage student behavior.
A newly approved memorandum of understanding for the SRO program attempts to clarify that issue, saying officers will be involved only in law enforcement and will leave school discipline to staff.
