City of Berkley and Berkley School District Partner on New Public Safety-School Resource Officer Program

The City of Berkley and Berkley School District have launched a Public Safety-School Resource Program that, for the first time, will put a Berkley public safety officer in the schools full time.

Under this new program, the school resource officer, or SRO, will assist with school safety and security, provide educational programming, build and cultivate partnerships with students, staff and parents and investigate public safety matters related to Berkley School District. The SRO will have an office at Berkley High School during the school year and will visit the district’s other schools regularly and respond to them as needed. The officer will work out of the Berkley Department of Public Safety when school is not in session.

The SRO also will assist the Huntington Woods and Oak Park Public Safety departments at Berkley School District buildings in those cities.

“The Berkley Department of Public Safety is pleased to expand our partnership with Berkley School District through this Public Safety-School Resource Program,” BDPS Chief Matt Koehn. “We have long had officers visit schools within the district to build relationships with students, parents and staff as well as assist with safety and security matters. This program enables us to enhance these efforts by having a designated officer in the schools full time, which we believe will increase safety, strengthen relationships and serve as an important recruiting tool.”

Sgt. Dave Arney has been assigned to the new SRO position. With his current assignment in the BDPS Detective Bureau, Arney already performs many of the SRO duties and has developed a great relationship with the district’s students, teachers and administrators. He also has completed the 40-hour Basic School Resource Officer training course through the National Association of School Resource Officers.

“Student and staff safety is our No. 1 priority, and partnering with Berkley Public Safety and the City of Berkley to add a school resource officer will only make our schools safer,” Berkley School District Superintendent Scott Francis said. “Sgt. Arney has worked closely with the Berkley School District for several years as our school liaison officer and he is a familiar face to many of our students and school community. We welcome Sgt. Arney in his new role for the 2023-24 school year.” 

Under the agreement, the Berkley School District will cover 75% of the SRO’s contractual salary. For the 2023-24 school year, that cost will be $67,405.50.