Milwaukee police officers begin school resource officer training
A judge gave the city until March 15 to return officers to Milwaukee Public Schools, or face $1,000 daily fines
Instructors from the National Association of School Resource Officers, or NASRO, are in Milwaukee this week.
Thirty-eight officers are participating in NASRO’s basic Schools Resource Officers (SRO) training program, taking place at the Milwaukee Police Academy each day this week March 10-14, 2025.
This Saturday is a judge’s deadline to have 25 school resource officers in MPS, or the city could face $1,000 daily fines.
“I want this community to know that they have the opportunity here to experience something really special. Having these very special law enforcement officers interacting with their students on a daily basis, it can really be a game changer,” Mo Canady, executive director of NASRO said.
Canady is leading the SRO training this week and said each officer will receive 40 hours of training over the course of the week.
“They seem very enthusiastic about the opportunity,” Canady said.
The training was scheduled after Judge David Borowski held the city in contempt of court. Borowski had harsh words for Milwaukee police Chief Jeffrey Norman in court last month when the city failed to return officers to MPS by Borowski’s previous court-ordered deadlines.
“Chief Norman did nothing for 18 months. Nothing,” Borowski said at a Feb. 27 hearing.
The city requested additional time, it said, to complete the NASRO training before officers began working in schools.
“With all due respect, Chief Norman will pick up the phone today and tell the national organization. I need a trainer in here yesterday,” Borowski said at the Feb. 27 hearing.
At that hearing, Borowski set another deadline, giving the city until March 15 to have officers in schools. The training is scheduled to finish March 14.
“Do you think it’s important to have this training done before there’s officers in the schools?” WISN 12 News reporter Kendall Keys asked Canady.
“It is critical that an officer who’s going to work in the school, at least, has this 40-hour base of training,” Canady said. “Imagine going into a school knowing really nothing about adolescent brain development or nothing about special needs in a school environment. It really is critical that they have this knowledge.”
NASRO did have to make some adjustments to its program for Milwaukee. Typically, two instructors teach the course for the full week. Because Milwaukee’s course was scheduled on such short notice, no two instructors were available for the full week. Four instructors will teach the course in shifts, according to a NASRO representative.
“What, to you, is the most important thing that these officers are going to learn this week?” Keys asked Canady.
“I think you’ve heard me harp on it a couple of times. It’s adolescent brain development. Understanding why an adolescent reacts in such a different way than an adult is really important to us as officers in terms of how to better connect them and how to do a better job of de-escalating situations,” Canady said.
“Do you expect these Milwaukee police officers to be in schools by next week?” Keys asked.
“I don’t know the answer to that. I certainly hope that they are because the sooner they’re in after the training, the sooner they can be effective in this environment and really be an advocate for students,” Canady said. “From everyone that I met today, at the end of this week, I think they’ll be ready.”
