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Milwaukee school resource officers return to MPS for 2nd year
The Milwaukee Police Department says it hopes to build relationships with Milwaukee Public Schools students and families, as the department is set to start its second full-year with officers in the district, required under the recent shared revenue law.
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Police Department says it hopes to build relationships with Milwaukee Public Schools students and families, as the department is set to start its second full-year with officers in the district, required under the recent shared revenue law.
Cops were pulled from MPS in 2016, but MPD still patrolled school grounds until 2020.
In 2023, Act 12 – a new shared revenue bill that put more money in municipalities' pockets – required Milwaukee police to return to the school district.
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Back to school
What we know:
FOX6 sat down with MPD Capt. Vynetta Norberg and Lt. Dorian Ratliff, who oversee the SRO program, who said 32 officers are set to return to school next week.
MPD Capt. Vynetta Norberg and Lt. Dorian Ratliff
Since the SRO program’s return, MPD says there is a waiting list for officers to become SROs, if a position opens up. Looking ahead, MPD says they hope to build on more engagement with staff, parents, but especially students.
What they're saying:
"I guess maybe what I'm hearing, and correct me if I'm wrong, is you want to ensure that there's interaction between SROs and students, not just when let's say something quote-unquote bad happens, right?" asked FOX6’s Bill Miston
"Correct, in a crisis or an emergency," said Norberg.
"It's more so, like the students have their 8-hour curriculum throughout the day," Ratliff interjected. "So how can we, you know, still make uh build upon our relationships outside of, you know, them passing in the hallways? Uh, so we, you know, attend sporting events or, you know, um, have developed, um, mentorship clubs for both, you know, young ladies and young men uh to participate in."
SRO data
By the numbers:
Last month, Norberg presented details to a city public safety committee on SROs in the 2025-26 school year, detailing 33 officers assigned to MPS, responded to 689 calls for service – nearly half categorized as ‘trouble’ calls, made 31 arrests and issued 70 citations, representing less than 1% of the students served.
Milwaukee school resource officers; new data on calls, arrests
There is new data on Milwaukee Police Department school resource officers as the department and MPS prepare for a second full year with them back.
Numbers, Norberg says, don’t take into account the hundreds or thousands of interactions SROs have with students each day.
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"For this school year, I feel like, um, we're hoping for more engagement and to create more positive relationships and to become more embedded in the school community as the years, or the year, and also years go on. And hopefully um see an impact outside of school hours as well."
The Source: FOX6 spoke with MPD Capt. Vynetta Norberg and Lt. Dorian Ratliff to produce this story. FOX6 also utilized prior reporting.