ATLANTA – A chief of police and 67 certified police candidates were sworn in as members of the newly expanded Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Police Department Thursday.
The inaugural swearing-in ceremony launches the school district’s fully-staffed police department and approach to protecting 50,000 students, nearly 5,000 employees and more than 100 learning sites and facilities.
Fulton County Chief Magistrate Judge Cassandra Kirk swore in law enforcement veteran Ronald Applin as the new APS Chief of Police.
Applin is a retired captain from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and has more than 25 years of experience in law enforcement including working in schools.
Officials said the new police officers will be assigned to APS middle and high schools to serve as school resource officers (SROs) to support students, staff and parents, and to secure its campuses and facilities.
The SROs will be trained in a national triad model of public safety that involves law enforcement officers also serving in roles as counselors and teachers in schools. APS partnered with The National Association of School Resource Officers to provide SRO training.
Officials said the officers will receive ongoing training in positive behavior support interventions and other student-centered services such as social emotional learning and conflict resolution consistency.
Additionally, the officers will have staffing assignments and focused training.
The new APS Police Department will assume full operation beginning July 1 - one day after the end of the system's contract with the Atlanta Police Department.
Since 2005, APS has had a contract with the Atlanta Police Department to provide school resource officers in schools for the district.
With the creation of the APS Police Department, the contract with APD will end June 30.
However, officials said the APS department will continue to partner with APD and other local jurisdictions to provide various levels of emergency and safety and security services across the district as needed.
“This marks a new day for APS and how we protect our students, teachers and campuses,” said Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen. “As a district transforming into a strong, child-centered system, we now have school resource officers who have been specifically trained in how to work in school environments. They will not only protect us, but also serve as role models and counselors for our kids.”
As the district’s director of security, veteran law enforcement leader Marquenta S. Hall helped to establish the first in-house APS police program in 2004.
APS was granted law enforcement agency status in November 2004 by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, with the authority to hire and train school resource officers and investigators with arresting authority.
In January 2016, the Atlanta Board of Education appointed Dr. Hall executive director of the APS Office of Safety and Security -- charging her with refreshing the new school safety operations to include a fully-staffed police force, emergency management department and security operations department.
“For the past 23 years, my life’s work has been dedicated to bridging my law enforcement expertise to help create safe schools and learning spaces for children,” Dr. Hall stated. “My primary focus remains to ensure teaching and learning occurs in a safe, welcoming, and student-centered environment every day.”
