Downriver Today

The Romulus School District announced that they will be getting more school resource officers (SRO) at its Jan. 23 Board Meeting.

Interim Superintendent Yolanda Bloodsaw said that the SRO grant that the district had recently applied for had been awarded to them, which will allow them to hire more SROs throughout the district. The grant would cover three officers for the district, and it is a 50-50 matching grant, meaning the grant will fund 50% of each officer’s salary with the district making up the rest.

Board member Debi Pyles asked if the district would be getting retired Romulus City Police Department officers or potentially Wayne County Deputies.

Bloodsaw shared that she had just seen an email that the Romulus Police Department might be able to supply one additional officer to the district; however, they will likely have to reach out to Wayne County Sheriff’s department to get a second and maybe a third. Officers, in general, are in short supply, especially for positions like an SRO.

The Romulus Chief of Police Robert Pfannes added that he could get the district an additional officer in addition to Officer Rodney Cofield, but he won’t know for some time yet.

“We were notified by Mr. Graham that we had received the grant, and so I called the chief of police for Romulus and talked to him about when we might be able to [get more officers] or if we might be able to get any. He said he has given us one already,” Human Resources Director Daniel Scott said at the meeting. “He thinks he can give us at least one more, but he won't know for a while, and there might be a slim chance he could give us two more. Which would make three, but he's counting Officer Cofield as one of those and, of course, the grant can’t be used for him.”

Any additional officers would not be able to begin until August of 2023, the next school year, due to the grant’s requirements.