CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE
September 17, 2025
Honorable Judge Alesia Jones
Presiding Judge of the Superior Court SENT VIA EMAIL
Solano County Superior Court
600 Union Avenue
Fairfield, CA 94533
Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2024-2025 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled : School Resource Officers (SRO)
Dear Honorable Judge Alesia Jones:
The following is the City of Fairfield’s response to the above -mentioned Grand Jury Report which was approved by the City Council on September 16, 2025.
FINDING 1 – “SROs are called away frequently from their assigned campuses to cover calls from non-staffed schools and to respond to external, non -school related, calls which require extra police response.”
RECOMMENDATION 1 – “Increase staffing to expand SRO coverage for absences to accommodate health, training, outside assistance calls, and afterschool events.”
CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
The City of Fairfield acknowledges this finding. The SRO position is highly valuable to our department, and our goal is to keep officers on campus as much as possible. However, public safety needs may arise that require additional officers to respond to incidents throughout the city. In such cases, SROs may be called away to ensure the safety of the entire Fairfield community. Due to a structural budget deficit, we currently lack the resources to hire additional officers, and four positions remain frozen.
FINDING 2 – “The current four -day, ten -hour staffing schedule results in frequent coverage gaps.”
Letter to Honorable Judge Alesia Jones
Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2024-2025 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled:
School Resource Officers (SRO)
September 16, 2025
RECOMMENDATION 2 – “Change SRO scheduling from four ten -hour shifts to five eight-hour shifts to improve coverage and minimize staffing gaps.”
CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
We agree with this finding. The 4/10 schedule is a negotiated benefit between the Fairfield Police Officers’ Association and the City of Fairfield. This agreement is not under the direct control of the Police Department. We understand the concern and will continue to evaluate ways to address coverage needs within the constraints of existing agreements.
FINDING 3 – “SRO assignments prioritize high school campuses and have limited coverage of other schools.”
RECOMMENDATION 3 –
“1. Assign SROs to all middle school campuses
2. Provide for easier on-call access to elementary schools
3. Allow for roving assignments, including part-time; and
4. Add a Community Services Officer (CSO) to each district to assist with Diversion Programs and home visits.”
CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
We concur with this finding. While we would like to expand the program to include junior high schools, our current staffing levels only allow us to cover four high schools and one junior high school—a comparatively high number within our region. Given our limited resources, we must balance school safety needs with the broader needs of the community and ensure we can respond appropriately to incidents citywide.
FINDING 4 – “SROs and school staff need more joint training.”
RECOMMENDATION 4 – “Expand joint training between SROs and school staff to:
1. enable SROs to better interact with students and become more integrated with school staff; and
2. provide active-attacker training between staff and SROs.”
Letter to Honorable Judge Alesia Jones
Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2024-2025 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled:
School Resource Officers (SRO)
September 16, 2025
CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
We agree with the Grand Jury's findings and recommendations in this area. Enhanced training and coordination are essential, and we will bring this recommendation forward to Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD) leadership to initiate discussions on implementing joint training in the near future.
FINDING 5 – “Social Media, widely -used by students, is not fully leveraged by SROs or administrators to combat misinformation.”
RECOMMENDATION 5 – “Conduct more social media outreach to:
1. combat misinformation regarding school threats and keep family members from flooding campuses; and
2. disseminate useful information about resources and activities.”
CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
The Police Department actively uses social media to alert and inform the community, including school -related issues. We work closely with FSUSD to ensure our communication is aligned. However, due to the rapid pace and wide range of platforms used by young people, it is not feasible for officers to fully monitor or respond to all social media activity in real time. While we understand and appreciate the intent of the recommendation, it is a significant challenge given cu rrent staffing and technological limitations.
The SRO program is extremely important to the Fairfield Police Department. We value the relationships built between our officers and students, and we recognize the importance of fostering positive interactions that prevent negative law enforcement encounters in the future.
We wish we had the resources to place an officer on every campus. Thank you again for your thoughtful evaluation of our program and your dedication to improving public safety in our schools and community. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
DAVID J. GASSAWAY
City Manager
Letter to Honorable Judge Alesia Jones
Re: City of Fairfield Response to 2024-2025 Solano County Grand Jury Report Entitled:
School Resource Officers (SRO)
September 16, 2025
Attachment 1: Solano County Grand Jury Letter Dated July 3, 2025 – School Resource Officers Attachment 2: Solano County Civil Grand Jury 2024-2025 School Resource Officers
cc: City Council
Dan Marshall, Police Chief