Schools FAQs

A school resource officer, or SRO, is a law-enforcement role—not a generic name for any guard assigned to a school. Federal law defines an SRO as a career law-enforcement officer with sworn authority who is assigned by the employing police department or agency to work with schools and community organizations.

A school safety or private campus security officer should perform duties defined by the school’s risk assessment, emergency plan, governing policies, and the officer’s legal status. Common private-security functions include visible campus presence, visitor and vendor procedures, perimeter and parking patrols, monitoring assigned entrances, reporting safety concerns, supporting drills, documenting incidents, and promptly contacting administrators or emergency responders.

Arrow provides armed and unarmed security services generally, but its current school page does not state whether a school assignment uses a private guard, an off-duty peace officer, another statutory school-safety role, or whether coverage is armed or unarmed. The accurate answer must be assignment-specific and based on the person’s employer and authority, actual credentials, the school’s risk assessment and policy, applicable law, insurance requirements, and coordination with local public-safety partners.

School security personnel should receive training beyond a standard guard-card curriculum. Appropriate preparation can include adolescent development, disability awareness, trauma-informed interaction, verbal de-escalation, cultural competence, school emergency operations, reunification, evacuation and lockdown procedures, mandatory reporting, student privacy, first aid, and coordination with administrators and first responders. Training must match the officer’s actual role and authority.

There is no universal officer-to-student ratio that safely determines school staffing. The number should follow a site-specific assessment of campus size, building count, entrances, grade levels, enrollment, arrival and dismissal patterns, events, prior incidents, emergency-response time, and the duties assigned to each position. One officer cannot simultaneously remain at a fixed entrance, patrol distant buildings, manage traffic, and respond elsewhere.

Private School Security Officers work under a written contract and school-approved post orders. Administrators set school policy and educational priorities; private officers carry out assigned protective functions within Arizona law and their training. Local police retain public law-enforcement authority. A private guard does not become a police officer by being posted on campus.

Arrow’s school-services page states that it works with private, charter, and public schools. Service for a particular campus remains subject to location, staffing availability, procurement rules, insurance, the requested scope, and agreement on the correct officer role and credentials.