School resource officers return to Champaign schools as police refill ranks

CHAMPAIGN — It’s no coincidence that as the number of officers in the Champaign Police Department gradually returns to pre-shortage levels, school resource officers are gradually returning to Unit 4 schools.

The school board voted unanimously earlier this month to renew the district’s contract with the city of Champaign and bring on two SROs — one at Central High School, the other at Centennial High School — next school year.

The district temporarily paused its contract with the city ahead of the 2021-22 school year due to police staffing shortages, effectively removing five SROs from its two high schools and three middle schools.

Between January 2019 and July 2021, the Champaign Police Department saw 32 officers leave its ranks.

The departures — which a city council study session attributed to all-time high retirement levels and “nationwide trends” of more officers leaving the profession — outpaced the department’s ability to hire replacements and created 21 vacancies in 2021.

Today, the department has 116 sworn staff members out of its authorized total of 126, leaving just 10 vacancies, Champaign police Lt. Andre Davis said.

Notably, that count still includes 23 “unserviceable officers” due to things like training, injury or active military service.

Davis said the bolstering of Champaign police staff can be attributed, in part, to how the city has streamlined its hiring process.

Before, the city hired a class of officers just once a year. Now, Champaign has a rolling hiring process every month and invested in marketing campaigns and hiring and retention bonuses.

The changes have helped shore up staffing levels, but Davis affirmed that getting an officer hired is still a time-consuming process that requires applications, interviews, testing, a background check, a 16-week Police Academy and 20 weeks of field training.

That means it can take a year for an applicant to become an officer eligible for solo patrol, and another year before they clear probation.

“Champaign Police are working to hire and train new personnel, but we still have hurdles to overcome,” Davis said. “As Champaign Police continue to get officers out of training, conversations will continue about fully restoring the school resource officer program to its full complement of five officers.”

Orlando Thomas, the district’s head of security, said the role school resource officers play in Unit 4 schools has not changed.

“The SRO’s are tasked with building positive relationships and ensuring the safety of the students and staff,” Thomas said. “Per the National Association School Resource Officers, their responsibilities are divided into three areas: public safety officer, mentor/informal counselor and law enforcement officer.”

Unit 4 hired CPD’s Jeremy Canales for the newly created position of director of security and safety after its lost its school resource officers in 2021. It also hired the private Chicago security firm AGB Investigative Services to patrol school grounds, halls and parking lots.

Thomas said the district will retain all current staff in its safety and security department. Given that CPD continues to add new officers, he said the district may see SROs return to Edison, Franklin and Jefferson middle schools, as well.

“The district is pleased to welcome back two SROs to be assigned at both high schools,” Thomas said. “And as staffing permits, we look forward to assigning SROs in our three middle schools.”