DeKalb County School District

The mission of the Department of Public Safety is to provide for the safety and security of all school system employees, students, and staff through the placement of intervention and prevention programs as well as to establish a law enforcement presence in the schools to respond to immediate safety issues.

Purpose

The Department of Public Safety is a certified law enforcement agency established under The Official Code of Georgia Annotated. The school resource officer initiative is designed to increase the rapport between students and police officers and to establish the school resource officer as a source of information on criminal law and public safety information for students, staff, administrators, and parents. School resource officers provide a positive role model for students in the schools, utilizing expertise and training in law enforcement to foster a better understanding of legal issues and the judicial process.

History

The Department of Public Safety was created in September 1998. In July 1999, the first nineteen school resource officers were hired and assigned to the existing high schools as directed by the Board of Education [ http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/board-of-education ]. Additional positions were created in July 2000; eight detectives, fifteen middle school resource officers, three sergeants, and two transport resource officers. Our motto has been "Education is not achieved without a safe environment" because the "The school cannot live apart from the community."