School Resource Officers

The Medford Township Police believes that children are our greatest asset and The Medford Township police remains committed to developing relationships between the police and the children as we help to prepare them to be responsible adolescents and adults. The School Resource Officer Unit is a vital tool to help us prepare the children of today for the challenges that lie ahead.

Nationally, School Resource Officer (SRO) programs have been in schools since the 1960s. Although the placement of law enforcement officers in schools has grown tremendously over the past decade, the move to do so appears to have increased dramatically following the school shootings of the late 1990s.

The Medford Township Police Department currently has 3 full-time School Resource Officers; one officer assigned to Shawnee High School and two officers assigned to Lenape High School Medford Township assigned the first full-time officer to a school under a US Department of Justice Grant in 1996. In 1998 two additional officers were added to the unit through additional grant funding.

Current funding for the 3 High School SROs is provided through a partnership grant with the Lenape Regional High School District.

Over the years, our SROs have been both leaders in this agency, the schools and the community and touched the lives of countless children.