Multiple acts of legislation have been passed within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over the past two years defining roles and responsibilities of school security, school police and School Resource Officers (SROs).  Several years ago, the Mount Pleasant Area School District went through a process to establish its own police force.  The District employs three uniformed, armed police officers, each of whom is a retired municipal police officer.

MPASD School Police Officers have full arrest powers and are held to the same training and qualification standards of other police officers in municipal departments.  Additionally, each officer has successfully completed a 40-hour National School Resource Officer (NASRO) training course to meet minimum state training requirements.  MPASD School Police Officers are fully equipped and outfitted to maintain safety and security. 

Our school police officers provide numerous functions throughout the day.  Located in each of the school buildings, school police check and secure doors, provide escorts for visitors to the buildings, review and monitor video surveillance, provide supervision during class change and during lunch/recess periods, investigate criminal complaints/issues, and other police functions.  It is also common place to have our school police visit classrooms and engage students in discussion about a variety of topics.  School police have access to several resources for the purposes of verifying individuals' identities, conducting criminal background checks, and verifying vehicle registrations.