RALEIGH, N.C. — School safety is a focal point of many campaigns, including governor and school superintendent.
One question is how many school resource officers should be in schools and on what campuses, but what's not in question is whether safe and secure learning environments for our students are the number one priority of SROs.
What You Need To Know
School resource officers are fully trained law enforcement officers who work on public school campuses
They often function as mentors, confidants, and security
Both candidates for state superintendent of public instruction support SROs in schools
“These kiddos have to have a safe place to learn, and that's our number one goal as SROs and as police officers,” Sergeant Robert Tichenor with the Garner Police Department said. “Number two goal is student engagement. Positive engagement, making sure that we're making a difference in their lives.”
Not only do they enforce laws and maintain order, but they also build positive relationships with students, some of whom would not have any outside positive interaction with law enforcement. SROs are often where first impressions of law enforcement start.
“It provides not only safety and security to the school, the students, but it's creating that positive engagement in the community so that later on we can have the crime prevention that we need,” Tichenor said. “Community policing is the way of the world now. It's what works. An SRO is on the front line for that.”
Tichenor says this is by far the best and most rewarding job he’s had as a police officer. He’s served as a school resource officer in all four of Garner’s secondary schools.
“This is our chance to make an impact on them and make sure that they see us in a positive light and know that we're here to help, not just necessarily take people to jail,” Tichenor said.
He says the relationships built between an SRO and students can be extremely important to preventing threats on or off campus.
“If you have a good relationship with the student, they're willing to tell you more,” Tichenor said. “They're willing to explain what they may have saw on the bus, what they may have heard on Instagram, things like that.”
Both high schools in Garner have two SROs and each middle school has one. Officers have the jurisdiction to make arrests and conduct investigations on school grounds; however, they defer to school administrators and school policy whenever possible.
Being in schools is not only about locked doors and secure campuses, but it’s the opportunity to develop bonds with students that may change the trajectory of their life.
“It does feel a lot safer just by having them as a visible presence,” Liem Mai, a Wake County student, said. “But they also not only see you as a student, but also as an individual that's in there. And they'll talk to you, kind of ask you about your future, your plans, your goals.”
The issue of school resource officers has been hotly debated in our state superintendent campaign. Both candidates agree they are needed in schools and serve an important role, but Republican Michele Morrow would like to see more of them and on every single school campus in the state. Democrat Mo Green has said he believes there are some cases where an SRO would be redundant for certain schools and that decisions have to be made case by case.
Both candidates lay out their school safety plans on their websites.