Former Hopkinsville Police Chief Clayton Sumner will head the Christian County School District’s police force starting in January.
The school district announced Sumner’s appointment as the Director of School Safety on Friday.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel says Sumner’s law enforcement experience and dedication to safety make him the ideal candidate to lead in this role.
Sumner has over 20 years of law enforcement experience with of those as Hopkinsville police chief.
The school board voted at its Nov. 21 meeting to establish its law enforcement agency following a partnership with the Hopkinsville Police Department and the Christian County Sheriff’s Office to employ school resource officers at each school building in the district.
However, the cost of school resource officers has increased nearly 450 percent over five years.
The school district will hire four officers next year to replace Sheriff’s Office Deputies and then the following year hire 10 to replace the Police Department officers. The new hires will have to have SRO training.
