Arkansas Police Chief Takes Pay Cut to Add School Resource Officer

The chief of police for the Palestine (AR) Police Department is being praised for giving up part of his paycheck to ensure that the department could add a full-time school resource officer at the local K-12 public school.

According to WMC-TV , Palestine Police Chief Blake Hudson had been looking to add a school resource officer at the Palestine-Wheatley K-12 school since he took the position a little more than a year ago.

When it became apparent that the budget would not allow for a full-time SRO, Hudson agreed to a 20% pay cut in order to promote a part-time officer to a full-time SRO.

Superintendent of the Palestine-Wheatley School District Jon Estes said of the new full-time FTO: "It adds a sense of security. I'm not sure if he's had any action. I hope he has the most boring job in St. Francis County… I hope he doesn't have to do anything. But to be able to look and see the cop car sitting there at all times and know that our kids are safe and protected is priceless."