American School Resource officers carry weapons and this is an American Reality

Newspaper “Weekend”- 18 November

The Office of the Resource Officers of Educational Institutions will become the member of the National Association of the School Resource Officers, (NASRO), USA.  American school resource officers paid visit to Georgia to establish ties with their counterparts and get familiar with the Georgian experience.

Interview with the Executive Director of National Association of the School Resource Officers,  (NASRO), Mr. Mo Canady.

Resource officers commenced their activities in 2010 as a part of the safe school concept. The attitude of Georgian society has been quite ambivalent to their activities at school. How would you assess performance of this office?

As a part of our visit to Georgia, our delegation members had opportunity to visit a newly opened teacher’s house, police academy, got familiar with a three week training program of the Georgian resource officers, and attended their training at the Tbilisi Sea. We are really impressed with the activities of the resource officers in Georgia.

What were your expectations before arrival?

I have not heard much about Georgia before I had received an invitation from your office. I am from Alabama and whenever people mentioned Georgia, I thought they were talking about the state, in the US. After we got the letter of invitation, we researched about Georgia and found out that it was an ancient country, with rich cultural and historical heritage.

What challenges did you face in the process of introduction of Institute of resource officers in the States?

The National Association of the School Resource Officers, (NASRO) was founded in 1991. The formation of this institution was conditioned by the developments in 90-ies. Because of the criminal attacks, the schools were not safe. In order to keep schools safer, we decided to establish this organization.

The beginnings were not easy, of course, as the institute of the resource officers was a new concept for American society. American resource officers are ordinary security officers who are allowed to carry weapon and their activities are supervised by the police department.

American parents have developed a very positive attitude toward the introduction of institute of resource officers from the very beginning;  the problem was how to fit this institution into the learning process; therefore, NASRO has incorporated educational component into the training program of the security officers;

Could you draw a specific example?

Well, I can judge from my personal opinion only, and I can tell you that children were happy with them from the very beginning.

What are the similarities and differences among the Georgian and American resource officers?

They both have one goal- to make a school safe, the difference is that American resource officers are security officers, carry weapon and are supervised by the police, whereas Georgian officers are subordinate to the Ministry of Education.

Is it good?

I can not say whether carrying a weapon is a negative or positive thing. Judging from the Georgian reality, Georgian resource officers don’t have to carry weapon with them while they are performing their duties at school, the fact that American school resource officers carry weapon is conditioned by the American reality itself.

What could you advise to Georgian resource officers?

The aim of our visit was to get familiar with the activities of the school resource officers in Georgia and share with them our practices as well. I think, you have a very good training program and resource officers are doing good job at the schools.

I also hope that we can establish a mutually beneficial relationship in the future.