December 4, 2019
Grant funding secured to enhance school safety
The City of Marietta, Marietta City School System (MCS), and the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS), have entered into a partnership that will fund the salaries and equipment for two new Marietta police officer positions. The funding originates with a COPS grant to prevent and combat gang activity. While there is not a current gang problem in the MCS, nor gang members intimidating Marietta students, nevertheless there are concerning gang trends throughout Metro-Atlanta and it is our strong desire to keep MCS safe and maintain a rich learning environment for our students.
Two Marietta Police Officers who are experienced and trained in gang abatement will supplement the three existing School Resource Officers and corresponding Supervisor. These new positions, a hybrid between gang task force officers and school resource officers, will be titled School Gang Officers (SGO’s). The SGO’s will work with school faculty and administrators on identifying any emerging gang members or issues that may negatively impact the safe learning environment and address the issues appropriately. The $250,000 grant includes scaled matching funds from the city and the city school board spanning a four year period, after which the cost of the positions will be absorbed by the city and city school system.
We appreciate the ongoing partnership between the MCS and the Marietta Police Department. The procurement of these grant funds will allow us to reassign two existing SRO’s into the MCS Elementary Schools. SRO’s and SGO’s will now be able to interact with our children starting at an early age, building a strong foundation between the children and their local law enforcement. The MPD and MCS thank the COPS office for funding this important preventative measure intended to increase safety and prevent gangs from entering our school system.
