Douglas County school safety program tops Colorado with $7.9 million cost

Douglas County’s school resource officer program has grown into Colorado’s largest, with a July 14 county manager report putting the 2026-2027 price tag at $7.9 million. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will cover $4.2 million of that total, while schools will pay $3.7 million.

The contract behind that spending was approved by county commissioners at their Tuesday, June 23, 2026 business meeting. The numbers show how deeply the county has embedded law enforcement in school operations across a district that says it serves about 61,000 students and ranks as Colorado’s third-largest.

The report says the program now serves 57 schools with 43 school resource officers and one therapy dog, and two more therapy dogs are expected to join soon. Douglas County School District says neighborhood high schools and middle schools have designated SROs, while elementary schools receive multiple unannounced visits each day from officers and deputies through partnerships with the sheriff’s office and the Castle Rock, Lone Tree and Parker police departments.

The county says the scale is matched by demand. In 2025, school resource officers handled 4,497 calls for service across Douglas County schools and another 2,500 Safe2Tell tips. Safe2Tell partners with local law enforcement, school resource officers and emergency responders to respond to critical reports, and the county’s figures suggest the program is doing more than providing a visible presence in hallways.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office describes the role as a blend of informal counselors, teachers and protectors. The office says its officers are trained in de-escalation, special-needs response and active-threat response, a mix that reflects how the program has broadened beyond traditional policing.

The structure dates back to 1988, when the sheriff’s office and school district first created the program. After the May 7, 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting, county leaders redirected and expanded school safety spending, including a $10 million one-time allocation and later staffing increases. County records show the SRO roster rose from 11 officers in the 2018-2019 school year to 26 in 2019-2020.

The latest report shows the program has expanded again since Douglas County previously said it had 39 officers and nearly $8 million in spending for the 2024-2025 school year. For taxpayers, the new figures mark both a bigger financial commitment and a broader countywide bet that school safety now requires a large, permanent law-enforcement footprint.