CPS reports fewer crimes investigated, sees rise in responding to disruptions in SRO data review

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) 

Despite a drop in crimes investigated last school year, Columbia Public Schools saw an increase in responses to disruptions, according to new data presented during a Monday Board of Education review of the district’s School Resource Officer program.

The district partners with the Columbia Police Department on the program, which is designed to strengthen safety and collaboration between law enforcement and schools. Officers work to build relationships with students, families and staff while helping respond to serious incidents on campus. The program also aims to improve communication between the police department and the school district when handling school safety issues and related investigations.

Ken Gregory, CPS director of safety and security, said the program has deep roots in the district. Gregory has been with CPS for 13 years and said the program existed long before that, originally beginning as the D.A.R.E. program. 

“We've always welcomed law enforcement into the schools to form those relationships. So the Columbia Police Department has graciously given us four SROs. Two at Battle High School one at Hickman High School and one at Rockbridge High School,” Gregory said.

SROs are selected through the Columbia Police Department. The hiring process includes interviews with a CPD representative, the principal of the school where the officer would serve, and CPS’s director of safety and security.

On top of giving safety presentations as guest lecturers, SRO officers also help outside the classroom, primarily for sporting events. The district reported SROs worked 78 events outside regular instructional hours.

Gregory said officers often take part in student activities as a way to build relationships.

“We had one incident at a football game this year where the SRO was at the top of the pyramid with the cheerleaders. He was three, three stacks high. They were holding him up, and he's leading the cheer in front of the students. So they really get involved in student life.”

District data shows SROs have reported and investigated 144 crimes so far during the 2025–26 school year, compared with 186 during the full 2024–25 school year.

Battle High School has seen the largest drop, declining from 109 incidents last year to 46 so far this year. Rock Bridge High School is tracking close to last year’s numbers, with 26 incidents compared with 31. However, Hickman High School has reported an increase, rising from 46 incidents last year to 72 so far this year.

CPS noted that not all reported incidents resulted in arrests and not all involved students. Some cases were related to issues such as trespassing on campus.

Gregory said relationships between students and officers can sometimes help prevent incidents before they occur.

“I think the incidents have gone down partly because, there's a lot of reasons, but partly because of those relationships that they've built. Kids trusting the SROs enough to tell them, ‘Hey, this is going to happen, or people are talking about this’ so that the school staff or the SRO sharing that information can head it off before we have to do an investigation.”

Responses to disruptions increased at two of the district’s three high schools. SROs responded to 77 disruptions at Battle High School, up from 54 the previous year. Hickman High School also saw an increase from 113 to 133 responses. Rock Bridge High School saw a decline, dropping from 50 to 29.

Overall, the 239 disruption responses reported during the 2025–26 school year represent a 9% increase from the 217 reported in 2024–25. CPS officials added that the most common types of responses included breaking up physical altercations.

Because of those trends, Columbia Public Schools identified deescalation training for staff and strengthening relationships outside of school as areas for improvement in the program.

“If we're all trained and seeing that something's brewing and see something, say something, we can step in and maybe help regulate those emotions that might be getting ready to bubble over,” Gregory explained. 

Board member Alvin Cobbins also said during the meeting that many parents he has spoken to about incidents at high schools have placed responsibility on parents rather than the district. The school board also requested that next year’s report include data from students about their interactions with SROs.

Future goals include providing deescalation training for staff, increasing home visits alongside Home School Communicators, and expanding staffing to place SROs in all secondary schools.

Gregory said adding additional officers may be difficult in the near term because of staffing challenges within the Columbia Police Department. ABC 17 News reached out to CPD for comment but had not received a response as of publication.

“I don't foresee it in the near future. But I think we can definitely show how it benefits the students and the community and the schools to have them.”

The district’s current contract with the city for school resource officers expires in June. CPS officials said discussions have already begun with the City of Columbia about renewing the agreements, with the school board expected to hold a first reading on the contracts in May.

CPS awards contract to replace security cameras across district

The district is also moving forward with plans to replace hundreds of security cameras across the district after awarding a contract to an Ashland-based company.

The district approved a bid from Steel-Nett to remove existing cameras and install new ones at school facilities throughout the district. Under the agreement, the district estimates about 1,400 cameras will be replaced during the first year of the contract.

Funding for the upgrades comes from a $2.5 million tax settlement with Ameren Missouri that Boone County distributed to the district last year.

In December, the district’s Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee voted to spend about $2.2 million of that settlement on facility improvements, with security camera upgrades among the top priorities. More than half of the funding was set aside for those improvements.

April Ferrao, who is a member of the Columbia Board of Education and the chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee, told ABC 17 News at the time that many of the current cameras have been a long-standing concern because some are more than five years old and are not compatible with the district’s current systems. Those issues have sometimes resulted in poor video quality or not enough working cameras to review incidents.

Gregory said the camera upgrades will improve coverage across school buildings.

“It's huge,” Gregory said. “ Some of our schools, our newer schools, have a curved hallway. Well, you're not going to see all the way down that hallway. So, you need the camera on the other side of the curve. So, yeah, it's going to make a huge difference, I think. And the exterior, what's going on in our parking lots and on our playgrounds, that sort of thing.”

CPS is aiming to replace cameras across the district within the next year, prioritizing older buildings with the greatest needs.