Kennewick Police Department posted photos of their active shooter training at Amistad Elementary, which included students pretending to be victims. / fb.com/Kennewickpolice
Kennewick voters approved a levy in February 2023 that was meant to fund health and safety programs, including hiring a total of 21 armed security personnel to be employed at every Kennewick elementary school, along with the two alternative high schools in the district.
In a Tri-City Herald article, Robyn Chastain, the district’s Executive Director of Public relations, stated that, “School safety continues to be top priority for Kennewick School District and our community.”
The plan was for the Kennewick schools to work with the Kennewick Police Department (KPD) to hire armed retired police officers and station them in schools, which would cost the district $1.2 million in annual funding.
How did armed officers make their way into our schools?
After the levy was approved, KSD quickly began hiring armed officers for their elementary schools. According to Isaac Merkl, Commander with the Kennewick Police Department, six of the officers hired by the school district were former KPD. In a phone interview on September 9, Merkl explained the arrangement KPD had with Kennewick School District (KSD):
There are two types of officers — [one is] a school resource officer (SRO), which is a KPD officer. Their specialty is providing service in the school. We have one of those in the middle schools and the high schools. There's eight of them.
The school safety officer (SSO) is a KSD employee. They're not employed by the city of Kennewick. [They] do not have a limited commission. They are simply there to protect the children in the elementary schools.
The SROs are not there to do security. They're not there to discipline in those capacities. They're there to mentor those kids to make right decisions. They educate the kids at times about vaping and narcotics, some of those dangers. The use of cell phones — apps and stuff like that — those dangers. They're not there enforcing school rules.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) further explains the difference between SROs and SSOs. Unlike SROs, SSOs do not carry firearms and are not trained through KPD. SROs are part of KPD’s Youth Services Unit.
The KSD website explains that even though SSOs are not employees of KPD, they are very involved in the process. Under the heading of School Safety Officers, the website says:
This program is managed in partnership with the Kennewick Police Department (KPD), which assists with the hiring process and conducts background checks on applicants. KPD also provides advanced training for safety officers, covering firearms, active shooter scenarios, de-escalation techniques, and emergency communication through police radio channels.
Merkl said that several of the SSOs in Kennewick schools are, in fact, retired KPD officers. But he emphasized again that they are not employees of the police department.
Do SROs and SSOs have any special training?
KPD supplies SROs to the middle and high school. Merkl explained that these officers expressed an interest in working in the schools. “SROs are patrol officers who have tested for this specialty,” Merkel said. “So just like an officer would go into traffic or into canine, this officer who came from patrol is saying, ‘I would like to go work in the schools and work with children. That is my desire.’”
Merkl said the role of SROs is mostly about community relations. In their jobs on patrol, the officers would have been interacting with people in high-stress situations. “In the schools, officers are able to mentor kids a lot of times, to build those connections before [] problems exist… They're able to help kids, and see that as an opportunity to really guide them into a positive path.”
Merkl also said the armed SROs are there to deal with threats that occur on campus. “School resource officers are there to be the very first line of defense for something that occurs inside of our schools, and to end that threat as quickly as possible, to save as many lives as possible. They're also in the schools to conduct criminal investigations.”
Merkl said that SROs are not there to provide discipline in the schools; they are only there to guide the students as needed.
The final role of SROs is to work with the school administration to implement procedures in case of emergency, explains Merkl. “They're there to work with the school administration on safety, on planning, on communication, on all those things that can help the school be more prepared for an incident that could occur,” Merkl said.
Merkl explained that when a patrol officer expresses interest in becoming an SRO, they are put through a test. “Our testing consists of an oral board looking at what their previous history has been like through the department,” he said. Merkel said that the principal of the school that the SRO is going to will also sit on that board to make sure the officer is a good fit for their school.
Newly promoted patrol officers who want to be SROs take training throughout their first year, and are trained by a Special Services Sergeant.
“Our Special Services Sergeant is a former SRO at Kennewick High School,” said Merkl. “He works with them inside the school, helping kids overcome problems.” He said SROs do a whole range of things to help students — from little things like helping kids with their lockers, to bigger issues like de-escalating conflicts. Washington state requires SROs to have training in 13 areas, including defending the constitutional rights of students, implementing bias-free policies and cultural competencies, and understanding restorative justice practices.
The guidelines that are set by OSPI and the state of Washington are just part of the training that KPD has their SROs complete, Merkl said: “We go above and beyond that, and we send our SROs to the basic SRO Academy, [in] which it’s taught how to be a great SRO and to provide some more training — specific training on what they should be doing in schools.”
SSOs also go through yearly firearm training. They are issued a KPD handgun and radio but are not cleared to investigate or make arrests. SSOs also participate in training with the police department.
Do officers do active shooter drills?
On August 9, 2024, KPD posted a series of photos from Amistad Elementary in Kennewick describing the active shooter training they were conducting with SROs and SSOs. In the photos, armed police officers and armed SSOs run through a shooting scenario in the school. Some of the students pretend to be ‘victims’ (most lying down pretending to be dead) in the photos. Members of the fire department and emergency medical technicians also participated.
Merkl believes having armed security in our schools is essential for safety. He is a father himself with kids in Kennewick schools. He said that having a trained officer on the scene helps with communication during violent incidents, which can speed the arrival of outside help when there is a threat. “We know we have that first line of defense there for the staff and students,” Merkl said. “And we know we're going to get accurate information that will help us determine what sort of situation we have, and how we respond.”
Merkl went on to say, “I very much believe that this program increases safety for all of our schools; and our partnership for all of our SROs in all our middle and high schools is something that we very much value in increasing safety throughout the city.”
Why was Trent Clasen hired, then promptly fired?
Tumbleweird was alerted by a reader when KSD made another controversial hire earlier this year. Our source detailed why the man — Trent Clasen, who was employed as an SSO at Lincoln Elementary School — was a problematic hire.
Lawsuit
Clasen was a former Washington State Patrol trooper that was involved in a lawsuit in 1993 for his actions in arresting a woman that was detailed in the court case Linda L. Doll v. Trent Clasen.
Misconduct
Clasen is on the Washington State Brady List — a prosecutor-maintained list of law enforcement officers with a credible history of misconduct or dishonesty that could impact their credibility as a witness. His listing states: “It is important to know that this individual's employer is not in compliance with their Brady disclosure obligations.”
Domestic violence
In 2010, Clasen was arrested for domestic violence against his now-former wife, Sarah Clasen. The original article appeared in the Yakima Herald-Republic, but has since been removed from their website. However, Behind The Blue Wall, a website dedicated to documenting incidents of police officer-involved domestic violence, contains excerpts of the article. It reads, in part: “Clasen's wife said he grabbed her wrists during the incident and struggled with her until their 14-year-old daughter was able to grab her mother's cell phone and call 9-1-1.”
Involvement in DUI incident
Washington State Trooper Sarah Clasen, the aforementioned ex-wife of Trent Clasen, was recently indicted for vehicular homicide while under the influence. Sarah Clasen hit and killed 20-year old Jhoser Sanchez on March 1, allegedly driving after drinking with her husband at a Richland bar for four hours. In body cam footage from the scene of the crime, Sarah Clasen contacts her husband after telling officers they had both been drinking. In the video, the officers try to convince her not to have her husband drive drunk to the scene, but she proceeds, and Trent Clasen arrives shortly after.
In the video from the bodycam footage, Sarah Clasen refuses to do any kind of sobriety test, but after getting a warrant for a blood test, lab results revealed that Sarah Clasen's blood alcohol content was 0.17, over twice the legal limit, when her vehicle killed Sanchez. Sanchez’ family is suing her for wrongful death, and there has been a lot of public interest in the incident, especially after the bodycam footage was released. Many public comments address Sarah Clasen’s casual demeanor and disregard for the life that ended that night.
Since Trent Clasen was not involved in Sanchez’ death, he was not tested for sobriety. But according to Sarah Clasen, Trent was drinking alongside her for four hours that night. On video, Sarah Clasen can be heard telling the officers that Trent Clasen is worried about coming to pick her up “‘cause he was drinking a lot.” Once he arrives, he can be heard telling officers that he didn’t want to talk on camera.
Public outcry
Many local groups involved in child safety, such as The Blue Bridge Project, have come out strongly against Clasen working in Kennewick schools. One parent stated that Clasen should not have been hired because of a long history of “problematic behavior in both his law enforcement career and his personal life.”
Clasen was hired on August 13, 2025. By September 8, less than one month later, KSD had terminated Trent Clasen.
When we asked KSD for comment regarding this hire and subsequent release of Clasen as an SSO, the only communication we received was an email from Robyn Chastain, Executive Director of Communications and Public Relations for KSD, on Monday September 15 saying: “The individual you asked about is no longer employed by the Kennewick School District. Because this is a personnel matter, we cannot share additional details.”
We also requested public records regarding Clasen’s employment record from the Washington State Patrol. They replied, saying: “We estimate that we can make available an installment of records on or before October 3, 2025.”
Tumbleweird will publish updates as this story develops.
What does it cost to place armed officers in schools?
The costs to school districts is not insignificant. Kennewick failed to pass a levy in 2023, resulting in a loss of $34 million in revenue. In Washington, the state is required to fund ‘basic education’. How much funding a school district receives is dependent on enrollment, special education needs, and the number of English language learners in the district.
Each district also has funding from the federal government. Some Kennewick School Board members have appealed to the federal government (specifically to President Donald Trump) for maintaining federal funding in light of controversy regarding students that are trans participating in sports. Trump has threatened school funding for states that do not follow his Executive Orders; accordingly, many school districts are facing uncertainty.
Fortunately in August, our state Attorney General, along with other AGs, sued the Trump administration over their illegal freeze on educational programs. The Department of Education has been ordered to release funds to Washington State schools.
Back In 2023, KSD scaled back their levy request and leaned in on the ‘school safety’ issue. The changes paid off. After a year of not paying additional levy fees in Kennewick, voters approved the measure.
Do officers increase school safety?
According to a report published by the Justice Policy Institute in 2020, having armed officers in school does not increase school safety:
The presence of law enforcement in schools has been a controversial issue for decades. Dual concerns about rising rates of violence among youth coupled with increased attention paid to school shootings were a catalyst for federal funding for more police, frequently referred to as ‘School Resource Officers’ (SROs), in schools. In fact, rates of youth violence were plummeting, independent of law enforcement interventions, and the impact of SROs on school shootings has been dubious at best. Additionally, SROs have been linked with exacerbating racial disparities in justice involvement and youth being driven deeper into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Rather than preventing crime, SROs have been linked with increased arrests for non-criminal, youthful behavior, commonly known as the school-to-prison pipeline.
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice, a nationwide coalition of State Advisory Groups, organizations, individuals, youth, and allies dedicated to preventing children and youth from becoming involved in the courts, suggests many alternatives to having armed officers in schools. They cite research from institutions like The Brookings Institute which show an increase in gun-related offenses after an SRO is added to a school. And the ACLU reports that the presence of SROs does not prevent campus shootings.
School officers have also put children in danger.
A former security officer that worked for KSD was sentenced in September after he helped a middle school student run away from home. The Tri-City Herald reported:
While a former Kennewick security officer helped a middle school student run away, he won’t spend more time behind bars. A deputy prosecutor said it would have been hard to prove Anohelico Caulder kidnapped a 14-year-old after she willingly went with him to Oregon last year. Caulder, 27, entered a ‘Barr’ plea to family abandonment, a felony, as well as guilty pleas to harboring a runaway and obstructing police in Benton County Superior Court last week.
And as most of our readers will no doubt recall, we reported on a former Yakima Police officer who worked as an SRO and was hired as a substitute teacher in Richland School District who impregnated one of the students, and was involved in multiple violent incidents, including the eventual shooting deaths of two victims.
Are there any benefits of SROs?
While not all of the data agree, the National Association of School Resource Officers has information on their FAQ page about the value of SROs, including a two-year study of an SRO program in the Regional Municipality of Peel conducted by Canada’s Carleton University. The report, published by Routledge in 2019, concluded that “for every dollar invested in the program, a minimum of $11.13 of social and economic value was created.”
Actual outcomes are harder to measure. We asked Commander Merkl about the benefits of having armed officers in schools during our interview. Merkl said he truly believes having officers in the building makes the school safer. When we asked about trauma kids might experience if they have had negative experiences with police in their lives, or were from a family of mixed documentation status, Merkl replied, “I am not not taking away from that at all, [but] I do believe that having that school safety officer is better.”
What we do know is that the number of armed personnel in schools is growing. According to a report put out by Rand on gun policy in the U.S:
During the 2019–2020 school year, 65% of U.S. public schools reported having a security staff member present at least once a week; middle schools and high schools reported having the highest concentration of security staff. This was up from less than half (42.8%) of U.S. public schools reporting having a security staff member present a decade earlier, during the 2009–2010 school year (National Center for Education Statistics)
What about ‘good guys with guns’?
There is also the question on whether having an armed officer in the building increases the chances of a ‘good guy’ stopping a school shooting. In the case of the shooting that killed 17 people and injured 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, a school security guard was charged — and later acquitted — for failure to stop the gunman. And we all watched in horror as armed officers stood by during the Uvalde massacre at Robb Elementary School (see also ‘Where’s the good guy with a gun?’).
An article published in 2023 on Urban.org by Wesley Jenkins explained why having armed security does not increase safety:
Multiple studies on the effects of armed guards on school grounds have shown that their presence is not related to school shooting severity, with one study finding that the death rate during shooting incidents in schools that had an armed guard present was nearly three times as high as during shooting incidents in schools without an armed guard.
Other research has shown compelling reasons not to mandate armed officers. Tennessee has one of the highest state rates of armed guards in schools already, with about 86% of high schoolers in the state attending a school with a police officer. Even with those officers present, only seven states have had more instances of gunfire on school grounds in the last decade than Tennessee.
So then, how do we make schools safer?
We all want safer schools. No one wants an increase in violence — especially gun violence — in any school, let alone a school in their own community.
Maybe we should listen to Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero. Back before the 2023 levy was passed — when having armed officers in schools was still mostly theoretical — he urged caution in an article published by Tri-City Herald, saying: “What is the best way to have officers in schools? You’ve got to be careful. It’s a balance.”
A lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Dori enjoys the outdoors, her family, and making good trouble. She has worked for many years in broadcasting and reporting and believes in the value of the 4th estate. She is a true community advocate that loves Washington.
References used in this article are listed at: tumbleweird.org/school-safety-references
