By Richard Bammer

Dixon Unified may soon lose an arguably dubious distinction; the only Solano County school district without a school resource officer.

Dixon Police Chief Robert Thompson on Thursday told district trustees that he had applied for federal funding that would pay for, either in full or part, the creation of the new department job.

“It’s critically important to fund and staff” the position, he said during a school board meeting in the Dixon City Council chamber.

School resource officers typically are responsible for providing security and crime-prevention services in U.S. schools. They may also have other duties, including mentoring, speaking about youth-related issues, and, he said at one point, making “soft contacts” with students and staff.

Thompson, a former FBI employee, said he was concerned about “the negative consequences of not having” a school resource officer in the rural eastern Solano County district with 3,500 students across eight campuses.

Source: School resource officer a possibility for Dixon Unified