Sheriff Chapman announces SRO program for elementary schools

On Jan. 22, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman announced a comprehensive proposal to expand School Resource Officers into Loudoun’s elementary schools and highlighted the major public safety successes of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.  

The Sheriff’s remarks were made at the annual State of Law Enforcement in Loudoun County Forum hosted by the Loudoun County Crime Commission, and reinforce the LCSO’s commitment to public safety, crime prevention, and community trust. 

“Public safety in Loudoun is built on professionalism, prevention, and partnership,” Chapman said. “We will continue doing what works to keep our community safe and engaged.” 

Loudoun continues to be the safest locality in the Washington metropolitan region and one of the safest major counties in the nation. Part 1 (serious) crime in Loudoun dropped another 11% last year to approximately 5.2 crimes per 1,000 residents—down about 48% since 2012.  

Sheriff Chapman has been a longstanding supporter of effective school safety measures, including SROs in all public schools.  

“Highly trained School Resource Officers in all our public schools is essential to keeping Loudoun safe,” the Sheriff said. “It should not be a choice of SROs or school security personnel, but rather a commitment to both working collaboratively to keep students, teachers, and administrators safe.” 

LCSO deputies respond to more than 4,000 school-related calls for service each year, including approximately 1,500 at elementary schools—none of which have an SRO presence on site.

About 29% of Virginia’s public elementary schools have an SRO presence, but in Loudoun, they are only in the county’s middle and high schools. 

The LCSO has proposed that funding for Phase 1 of the expansion of SROs into elementary schools be included in the FY27 county budget that will be considered beginning next month.

Those SROs would be funded by the Board of Supervisors, with implementation coordinated with Loudoun County Public Schools. The LCSO is encouraging the Town of Leesburg to participate as well, and funding for SROs in the Town is included in the proposal. 

The LCSO proposal calls for adding SRO deputies to each elementary school over the next four years—about 15 per year using a clustering approach to cover approximately 62 schools. These deputies would serve as protectors, mentors, and educators, complementing existing LCPS security personnel and building on the partnership and trust already in place through the elementary school D.A.R.E. program. 

The LCSO estimates approximately $6.7 million in FY27 costs for first-year start-up and recurring costs, and a recurring annual cost of $17.9 million once the SRO program is fully implemented. 

Today, the LCSO also released “Expanding SROs to Elementary Schools in Loudoun County: A Strategic Vision for Comprehensive K-12 Safety.” The report outlines the need, implementation timeline, and anticipated costs of the SRO proposal. It also addresses misconceptions about SRO programs generally. In particular, data from Loudoun shows no evidence of a “school-to-prison pipeline,” with only 39 students charged last year out of more than 80,000 enrolled.