Outline of the state of Tennessee
State
Tennessee
Required

Category
School Resource Officer Training

Category
School Resource Officer Training

State law requires SROs to complete specialized training to meet the safety needs of the school environment.

2017 Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-805. Template minimum requirements.

At a minimum, the template prepared by the state-level safety team shall include:

  • (1) The designation of an emergency response team;
  • (2) Policies and procedures for communication with law enforcement officials, parents and guardians in the event of emergencies and incidents of or threats of violence;
  • (3) Policies and procedures relating to school building security, including, where appropriate, the use of school resource officers, security devices or security procedures, and addressing, where appropriate, the use of the building by the public for events other than school activities and the impact the other use may have on building security;
  • (4) Procedures for assuring that crisis response and law enforcement officials have access to floor plans, blueprints, schematics or other maps of the school interior, school grounds and road maps of the immediate surrounding area;
  • (5) Procedures for coordination of the school safety plan with the resources available through the department of mental health and substance abuse services, the department of intellectual and developmental disabilities or a similar local agency to assure that the school has access to federal, state or local mental health resources in the event of a violent incident;
  • (6) Appropriate violence prevention and intervention strategies such as:
  • (A) Collaborative arrangements with state and local law enforcement officials, designed to ensure that school resource officers and other security personnel are adequately trained, including being trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations, and are effectively and fairly recruited;
Policy Type
Statute

Recommended Standard for the Eligibility, Qualifications and Training of School Resource Officers: Guidelines for Successful Partnerships between Schools Districts and Law Enforcement Agencies

This documents reccomends trianings for School resource officers, such as specialized and annual training.

Policy Type
Non-codified

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-4202. Part definitions.

(6) “School resource officer” means a law enforcement officer, as defined under § 39-11-106, who is in compliance with all laws, rules and regulations of the peace officers Standard and training commission and who has been assigned to a school in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the chief of the appropriate law enforcement agency and the LEA;

Policy Type
Statute

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-4217. Employment Standard for school resource officers.

(a) Training courses for school resource officers shall be designed specifically for school policing and shall be administered by an entity or organization approved by the peace officers Standard and training (POST) commission.

(b) School resource officers shall participate in forty (40) hours of basic training in school policing within twelve (12) months of assignment to a school. Every year thereafter they shall participate in a minimum of sixteen (16) hours of training specific to school policing that has been approved by the POST commission.

Policy Type
Statute

Tennessee Code Annotated 49-6-805. Template minimum requirements.

At a minimum, the template prepared by the state-level safety team shall include:

  • (6) Appropriate violence prevention and intervention strategies such as:
  • (A) Collaborative arrangements with state and local law enforcement officials, designed to ensure that school resource officers and other security personnel are adequately trained, including being trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations, and are effectively and fairly recruited;
  • (B) Dissemination of informative materials regarding the early detection and identification of potentially threatening behaviors and violent acts to teachers, administrators, school personnel, parents or guardians and students;
  • (C) Nonviolent conflict resolution training programs;
  • (D) Peer mediation programs and youth courts;
  • (E) Extended day and other school safety programs; and
  • (F) Comprehensive school counseling and mental health programs;
Policy Type
Statute