A plan to put school resource officers (SROs) back into Milwaukee Public Schools is now moving forward.
Tuesday afternoon, the Milwaukee Common Council voted 10-4 to approve the plan.
Watch: Common Council approves MPS student resource officer plan:
The council agreed to an outline for the city to split the cost of hiring and training the officers with Milwaukee Public Schools.
A revenue sharing bill had required the district to have officers in schools by January of 2024, but they repeatedly missed deadlines to do so.
"We're under a court order, this is state law, so the horse has left the barn in a way," Ald. Scott Spiker said. "And it will be $1,000 a day for the pleasure of not complying with Judge Borowski's order."
City representatives are now facing many questions about what this means going forward.
"I worry mostly about the training," Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic said. "We're now on a track where there will be expedited training in 40 hours...I haven't received the curriculum yet. But we've got a really diverse body of students in these Milwaukee Public Schools, of all needs and all abilities, some you can see and some you can't see. I'm just not sure how this will make families and children feel safer."
The city will now need to hire and train 25 officers. It also needs to show proof of progress by March 15, or face nearly $17,000 in fines.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
