The PRO Program is a cooperative effort between schools and law enforcement to: Improve student's attitudes and knowledge of criminal justice and law enforcement; to prevent juvenile delinquency; to mentor youth; to provide a safer school environment and; to combine safety and child advocacy assuring a better school experience for all WV youth.
The three main components of the PRO Program are prevention, mentoring, and safety.
- Prevention – The officers facilitate classes on non-traditional educational topics such as juvenile law, domestic violence, underage drinking, drug and alcohol prevention, and child abuse and neglect;
- Mentoring – Officers are trained on how to be a positive mentor to students they interact with daily and;
- Safety – Officers are trained to recognize potential danger, prevent violence, and to respond to dangerous school situations.
The PRO Program places certified WV Police Officers who are also certified Prevention Resource Officers in local middle and high schools. The officers maintain an office in the school and are on duty a minimum of 35-40 hours per week. In addition to the regular school day PRO's typically attend extra curricular activities throughout the school year.
The PRO Program currently operates through multiple funding streams. This program is supported by the Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Title II Grant Program, Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program and Purdue Pharma funding.