MARYSVILLE — The Marysville Police Department will use a new federal grant to hire three school resource officers, the city announced Tuesday.
The police department now plans to create a youth services unit, something Chief Rick Smith proposed after the October shootings at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
The city will receive $375,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice over the next three years. The police department plans to post the new job openings as soon as possible, spokeswoman Bronlea Mishler said.
The department currently has two school resource officers, one each assigned to Marysville Pilchuck and Marysville Getchell high schools. They also go to the alternative high school and middle and elementary schools as needed. The department has 60 commissioned officers, serving Snohomish County’s second largest city of about 60,000 people.
In the past five years, the school resource officers have handled thousands of calls related to assaults, arsons, gangs, thefts and other emergencies, Mishler said.
The Arlington Police Department received funding for two officers as well, according to a Department of Justice news release. Marysville also got $11,410 from the federal government to purchase a Taser, radios and other equipment.
The grants are aimed at improving community-based policing, according to a news release. The Everett Police Department also has a youth services unit.
Since the recession, police departments and school districts around Snohomish County have cut back on programs putting police officers on campuses, but some have begun to consider bringing them back.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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