Bill to qualify more retired law enforcement officers as school resource officers passes House

Tuesday, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill allowing retired law enforcement officers to serve as school resource officers without having to attend the police academy again.

House Bill 236 is sponsored by state Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen. Pettus, a retired law enforcement officer himself, said that his bill would allow a retired law officer with 25 years of experience, who retired in good standing, to become a school resource officer without having to go back to the police academy.

Pettus said that schools can hire law enforcement retirees on a part-time basis, as they are already drawing their retirements.

Pettus said that under current law, an active APOST–Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training–certified officers can already be SROs. Federal and state officers who have been through the federal academy or state academy can not, even if they spent 25 years as an FBI agent or a TVA law enforcement officer.

Read more: http://www.alreporter.com/2018/03/15/bill-qualify-retired-law-enforcement-officers-school-resource-officers-passes-house/