By URIAH KISER
DUMFRIES, Va. — Dumfries Elementary will become the first primary school in Prince William County with a full-time police school resource officer.
Move comes as a mixed Town Council Tuesday night approved a motion to hire a new police officer who will be trained and posted at the school that has just over 500 students. The push to hire and implement the new officer into the town’s $4 million budget was made by Councilwoman Kristen Forrester following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December that left 20 children and six adults dead.
Dumfries Town Manager Daniel Taber will report back to the Council on March 19 to update officials on the hiring process and implementation of the new officer. It’s not clear how much will be required to fund the new position, and the new SRO will be in addition to a vacant police officer job on the town’s force that has went unfilled for months. Currently, Dumfries has 10 police officers but not all have been working full shifts due to personal reasons.
Currently in Prince William County, SROs are stationed at all 11 high schools and four officers are rotated among 16 middle schools.
Those who opposed the measure, including Mayor Jerry Foreman, Councilman Charles Brewer, and Councilwoman Gwen Washington who works at the elementary school during the day, urged town officials prior to the vote to instead open more dialogue with officials in Prince William County’s schools and police departments, as well as speak with Prince William Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan on the matter.
Prince William Public Schools spokeswoman Irene Cromer was unable to comment on the situation Wednesday, and many school staffers appeared to be surprised by the move.
“Dumfries Elementary is in the Town of Dumfries but the school belongs to Prince William County,” said Washington prior to the vote to approve the measure. “There are a few things we still need to discuss with the School Board, and we need to talk to the principal of the school to find out if this fits into their overall plan.”
All who spoke against immediatley funding the SRO position said they are in favor of keeping young children safe inside the classroom, but said more time is needed to formulate a solid plan.
“Why is this even being put to a vote tonight?” asked Brewer. “We have no input from the county, no formal input from our police chief …this is like putting the cart before the horse here.”
Forrester said she favored moving full steam ahead with the plan and urged officials to commit to implementing the SRO position and work through the finite details later in the year.
Taking into account training for the new officer, Foreman said it could be the start of the new school year in September when the SRO is in place.
