Woodbury Police Department halts SRO program over new law

Two high schools in Woodbury will go without School Resource Officers (SRO) this year.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Woodbury Public Safety Director Jason Posel announced that the Woodbury Police Department ended its contract with East Ridge High School and Woodbury High School.

The decision comes as multiple police departments across the metro area have announced their decision to end their contractual agreement with schools in their vicinity.

Posel attributed the decision to “new, significant limitations by the 2023 legislature” which “created a separate set of expectations on when School Resource Officers can intercede [that] have placed our officers in an untenable situation.”

While SROs won’t be in school on a daily basis, Posel said the department has asked the school district to allow officers to patrol at special school events.

The post added that the department plans to reinstate SROs, but is looking for “what we hope is a speedy response by the Governor and state legislature to address this legislation in a special session.”

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