DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Decatur Public Schools will have more police presence in the upcoming school year, with the addition of one school resource officer.
At Monday’s city council meeting, city leaders and police spoke about the need for more police presence on school grounds. This addition of an SRO will make it a total of five police officers for the school district.
Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe expressed the need for more police presence, and one of those reasons is because of the concern for school shootings. “Unfortunately we’ve seen too many times in schools across the country, terrible tragedies erupting,” Wolfe said.
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The new SRO will start in August and will be able to flow between schools when needed. Looking back, the school district hasn’t been able to gain more school resource officers since 2014.
The new officer along with the rest will providing security to Eisenhower High School, MacArthur High School, Stephen Decatur Middle School, Hope Academy, and Johns Hill Magnet School.
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