Council considers re-establishment of SRO program

By Jamie Miller

The School Resource Officer Program was at the top of the agenda list for the Bryant City Council last night[more]. Chief of Police Mark Kizer addressed the council with the latest on the SRO program.

The Bryant City Council and School Board are currently working together, with the aid of Chief Kizer, to get the SRO program back into the Bryant School District. Kizer informed the council that the school district has agreed to provide three officers of their own with the help of three other officers from the city to meet the needs of the SRO program. Kizer also asked the council to approve a $60,000 supervisor position for the program. This, along with $15,000 worth of initial expenses is all that the city is going to be responsible for because there are currently three city officers that are already zoned for the school district.

Kizer went on to address the need for all 27 of the Bryant officers to have their own Taser gun while on the job. Alderman Steve Gladden agreed, saying that having all of the officers have Tasers will “reduce liability for the city.” The council approved of this addition to the 2011 Operating Budget for General, Streets and Other Funds.

Mayor Jill Dabbs addressed Taylor and Logan Snapp, two young boys from Troop 99 of the Scouts that are working on their Eagle status, and thanked them for attending the meeting. Dabbs went on to thank everyone who had a hand in helping with the grand opening of Bishop Park that occurred yesterday.

Other items on the agenda included two residential development issues in the Overlay district that the council decided to table until February so that they could further review the information and make decisions about the coming housing communities.

Alderman Chris Tipton had concerns about the run off and water retention for the new communities. The lack of green space and density of the property concerned him. The density of the Overlay district is 24 units per acre, but the council agreed to three to four units per acre to cut down on rooftops and run off issues. Further discussion on these issues will occur at the February council meeting.

Don Balch was added to the Bryant Planning Commission last night as well, with the recommendation of Mayor Dabbs. After the Council Meeting Calendar was approved for 2011, the meeting was adjourned until next month.

3 comments

  1. william

    Well if you would just look at the Taser Web-Site you will see their territory is protected and only one company can sell these Tasers. I am just wondering what you two are implying? The only company that can sell these is based out of state in LA called Teeco Safety, they are the only company that can provide these in Arkansas so please go check it out.

    It amazes me that you people have nothing better to do then assume and try and second guess everything but it just shows how little you know before you type, I encourage both of you to contact Taser tomorrow and Teeco and then you can come back and redact your earlier post due to your error’s. Have a great day…

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