The Nebraska State College Trustees last week approved a new interlocal agreement between Chadron State College and the city of Chadron for a College Resources Officer.
The college will pick up a majority of the salary and benefit package for the officer, whose primary duty station will be the college, but will respond as needed to emergency calls across the city.
Chadron Police Chief Rick Hickstein is excited to see the return of a program that worked well for a decade before the city found itself unable to attract enough officers to meet regular needs, much less the CRO position.
Chief Hickstein says the CRO program has been a win-win situation for everyone.
Hickstein says one of the most important benefits of having a police officer on campus all the time with community relations as their top function has been the trust built between students and the officer.
There’s a similar program, the School Resource Officer, between the city and the Chadron Public Schools that Hickstein says has had similar success in building trust between students, their families, and police.