Riverside council approves two-year school resource officer agreements with Riverside Unified and Alvord districts
The agreements approved Aug. 25 keep Riverside police officers at high schools in both districts through June 2028, with the city and each district splitting the cost evenly.
The Riverside City Council on Aug. 25 approved agreements with the Riverside Unified and Alvord Unified school districts to keep police officers assigned to high school campuses for two more school years.
Both memorandums of understanding run from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028, according to the meeting minutes.
The items were on the consent calendar, which the council approved on a single motion by Councilmember Hemenway, seconded by Councilmember Mill. Neither agreement was among the items taken up separately, the minutes show.
Riverside Unified
The Riverside Unified agreement is for $1,508,874.10 a year, or $3,017,748.20 over the term.
It pays for five officers, one each at Arlington, John W. North, Martin Luther King, Poly and Ramona high schools, a Police Department staff report says.
The district and the city each pay half, or $754,437.05 each fiscal year.
Alvord Unified
The Alvord agreement is for $905,324.46 a year, or $1,810,648.92 over the term.
It covers three officers, at La Sierra, Norte Vista and Hillcrest high schools. Each side pays $452,662.23 a year, the staff report says.
How the program works
Under both agreements, a district may ask for officers at evening and weekend events such as dances, athletic events and performances. The district pays the Police Department separately for that work, according to the reports.
The reports say the department has run the program with each district for more than 28 years.
They describe the officers' role as handling criminal investigations on campus, working with school staff on truancy and presenting educational programs.
The city's share comes out of the General Fund's police personnel budget, and the expected reimbursement from the districts is already in the adopted budget for fiscal 2026-28, the reports say.
Other police items
The same consent calendar included an agreement with the California Highway Patrol for a $591,186.07 Cannabis Tax Grant Program award. The minutes say the money funds enforcement, prevention and education on impaired driving between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027.
The council also approved overtime reimbursement arrangements tied to the department's work with federal and state task forces, including a $10,395 increase for the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force that brings that funding to $199,395.
The minutes list Mayor Lock Dawson and every council member as present.