Rochester Hills has fully executed its School Resource Officer agreements and paid its 2026 invoices covering Rochester Community Schools and Avondale School District, according to a budget update presented to the Oakland County Safer Communities Ad Hoc Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Policy analyst Breanne Progar delivered the update at the committee's meeting in Pontiac. Four other municipalities had not completed their SRO addendums as of that date: Brandon Township, Springfield Township, Independence Township and Orion Township.

The Safer Communities Fund had $44,469 in operating cash after accounting for two previously approved projects. Progar told the committee that unspent funds carry over to the next fiscal year.

Committee backs free biometric gun safes

At the same meeting, the committee voted 5-0 to recommend purchasing 100 biometric gun safes at $72.99 each, totaling $7,299. The safes would go free to Oakland County residents who complete a 35-minute, in-person presentation on Michigan's Extreme Risk Protection Order law at libraries, houses of worship and community centers across the county.

The proposal still needs approval from the Public Health & Safety Committee and the full Board of Commissioners before any safes are purchased.

Committee Vice Chair Angela Powell made the motion. Commissioner Timothy Willis seconded it. Chair Marcia Gershenson and members Penny Luebs and Betsey Hage also voted in favor, according to the committee's meeting minutes.

Father Chris Yaw of Disarmory Ministries and Skye Thietten of End Gun Violence Michigan presented the plan. The two organizations have held 13 ERPO presentations reaching about 100 residents since April 2025, according to the agenda packet.

The proposed safe, an RPNB Model RP 19001f, holds up to two pistols and opens via fingerprint scan, keypad or key lock. In a written response to committee questions included in the agenda packet, Thietten said biometric safes let owners store a loaded firearm and access it in under three seconds, unlike cable locks that require guns to be unloaded.

"In short, these safes are likely to increase actual, real-life use," Thietten wrote.

Organizers plan five to 10 community presentations, distributing 10 to 20 safes per event on a first-come, first-served basis. The goal is to reach 200 to 400 residents and distribute all 100 safes by the end of 2027.

Michigan's ERPO law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in May 2023, took effect Feb. 13, 2024. It allows courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others.

The gun safe proposal's next stop is the Public Health & Safety Committee, though no date for that hearing has been announced.