Central Oregon Community College (COCC) and the City of Bend, through the Bend Police Department, have signed an agreement for a college resource officer (CRO) to operate at the college’s Bend campus beginning this September.
“This is an important step in our continued partnership with the city of Bend and the Bend Police Department,” said Laura Craska Cooper, chair of COCC’s board of directors. “We look forward to having the officer work with our campus public safety staff.”
This agreement follows an earlier memorandum of understanding in which the college and the city clarified the respective roles COCC’s campus public safety and the Bend Police Department relating to security, safety and law enforcement on the college’s Bend campus.
“In 2019, Central Oregon Community College has devoted significant staffing and finances to bring their security staff into compliance with Kaylee’s Law, improving communications with the Bend Police Department, and rebuilding the trust between the college and the city of Bend,” said Chief Jim Porter. “It was the commitment and focus of President Shirley Metcalf and board Chair Laura Craska Cooper that have made these positive changes possible.”
The CRO will be an employee of the city, recruited and selected by the Bend Police Department, with input from the college. The CRO will serve full-time on the Bend campus with the cost of the position split equally between the city and the college.
