Founder of Westlake SRO program retires after 26 years

Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough presents SRO Scott Fortkamp a proclamation recognizing his contributions to the Westlake Police Department, particularly the School Resource Officer Program.

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The City of Westlake held a send-off last Friday for the founder of the WPD's School Resource Officer (SRO) Program, SRO Scott Fortkamp, who is retiring after 26 years with the department. 

During his career in Westlake, he established Westlake as a regional leader, inspiring other cities to implement their programs as well. He has led and expanded the program so all of our city schools are covered by SROs full-time during the school year. Additionally, he has helped train the city's other SROs and provided safety training to several companies and organizations throughout the area. 

Fortkamp shared some memories from his early days as an SRO, noting that schools were initially hesitant about the idea of having police officers in schools consistently but eventually embraced the program and the officers that came to be a part of it. 

Following words from Mayor Dennis Clough and Chief Kevin Bielozer, SRO Fortkamp received a police escort to his home but not before making a pass through the parking lot at Westlake High School, where he worked for many years.