Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office removes school resource officer from Underwood School

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office will be removing their school resource officer from Underwood School.

The announcement came in a Wednesday social media post, which cited the change in use-of-force techniques and student removal conditions placed on officers stemming from new regulations pass by the Minnesota legislature.

The sheriff’s office is following other law enforcement agencies from across the state who are also pulling their school resource officers until the law is clarified by the legislature or modified.

In the post, Otter Tail County Sheriff Barry Fitzgibbons writes: “The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to the safety of our schools and the School Resource Officer Program, and will remain to have a patrol presence in or near the school. My goal is to have the SRO Program resume at the Underwood School as soon as possible.”

He also stated the new laws only effect designated school resource officers, so Otter Tail County deputies who may respond to the school in the event of an incident are not restricted by the same regulations.