Campus officers are community police officers based full time within a single secondary school. Their role is not to police the classrooms but to help develop greater links with the community and in particular young people: a community police officer may only come into contact with a dozen or so young people every day; campus officers will interact with hundreds. Based in school permanently, the officer becomes part of daily life, providing additional moral authority and building up real trust: many pupils come to campus officers seeking advice on everything from bullying to drugs. The officers are also able to enhance the intelligence available in the area around the school, for example, who has been selling drugs or gang fighting. Officers are also able to build close relationships with teachers, school staff, parents and the wider community by working from a schools base.

We currently have over 60 campus officers in almost 70 schools across Scotland. The posts and schools who benefit from them are agreed by local Divisional Commanders and local Education Authorities. Funding of campus officers varies from area to area. In some areas it is joint funded by the local divisional commander and the local education authority, in other places it is funded purely by the divisional area.

Find out more:

Campus Officer job description

Scottish Government evaluation of Campus Officer initiative

East Renfrewshire SSPC model