School Resource Officer
School Resource Officer (SRO):
Officer Todd LaPorte, Spencer Police Department
School Resource Officer (SRO):
Officer Brandon Hill, East Brookfield Police Department
Officer LaPorte joined Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District as our SRO in September 2019. Officer LaPorte is a licensed clinical social worker (LICSW), professor at Anna Maria College, and a soccer coach at David Prouty High School.
The Student Resource Officer (SRO) is specially trained. This officer’s role is to help enhance school security and provide law enforcement education and counseling. School Resource Officers act as a resource to teachers, parents, and students by providing direction or advice on law-related issues.
Officer Hill has been a police officer since 2021 and joined the East Brookfield Police Department in 2022, becoming the department’s first School Resource Officer. Officer Hill completed his School Resource Officer training on January 8th, 2024, and is also certified SRO through P.O.S.T. (Police Officers Standards and Training). Officer Hill is also the handler for the East Brookfield Police Department’s comfort dog (Finn).
Law Relating to School Resource Officers
A model memorandum of understanding (MOU) governing the role of school resource officers (SROs) in Massachusetts schools was released in 2018 by Attorney General Maura Healey, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. View this press release: Section 79 Model MOU Chapter 253
"The model memorandum of understanding shall expressly state that school resource officers shall not: (i) serve as school disciplinarians, enforcers of school regulations or in place of licensed school psychologists, psychiatrists or counselors; and (ii) use police powers to address traditional school discipline issues, including non-violent disruptive behavior."
"For the purpose of fostering a safe and healthy environment for all students through strategic and appropriate use of law enforcement resources and to achieve positive outcomes for youth and public safety, a chief of police, at the request of the superintendent and subject to appropriation, shall assign at least one school resource officer to serve the city, town, commonwealth charter school, regional school district or county agricultural school."
Learn more about the role of school resource officers in Massachusetts