It takes a unique person to be a school resource officer, according to Sgt. Aaron Bennett with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Bennett has been the SRO at Chandler Schools since fall 2019. While a big part of his job is making sure all the schools are safe - a task made evident by the high-tech security system that takes up a large screen in his office at the high school - the other is building trust with students.
He said he’s had multiple students show up at his house when something bad is going on in their lives throughout the years and this is because they know they can trust him.
“Once you develop those relationships and build that trust with kids, if something’s going on in their life (and) they have someone to talk to or go to, that’s priceless,” he said.
Bennett is also in charge of the school resource officers in Lincoln County and has worked to put either deputies or municipal police officers in nearly every school. Currently, Chandler, Agra, Wellston and Meeker have deputies from the sheriff’s office, while Stroud, Carney and Prague have city police officers in the position.
Beyond watching security cameras and canvassing the school grounds - which is a unique challenge on some Lincoln County campuses that are spread out - Bennett doesn’t want his deputies and other SROs to be seen as a scare tactic.
“We’re not there to tell your kids to take off their hats and quit running in the halls. We’re there to, one, protect them and serve the schools,” he said. “Mostly, we’re a resource. We want to educate them as much as prevent anything bad from happening.”
Education is something Officer Charles Mash with Stroud PD hopes to focus on. He recently started as the school resource officer for Stroud schools.
“We’re trying to foster positive relationships between the students and the police. I think that’s the big thing we’re trying to do right now,” Mash said. “And once we get in there, get acquainted with everybody, we’ll start teaching law enforcement curriculum to the students.”
He said he hopes to teach students how to communicate with police officers and that they aren’t just “this scary person that stops them on traffic stops.”
Deputy Kevin Roe, who recently took the SRO position at Agra schools, said a big part of his job is interacting with students and letting them know that he’s there to make it a safe and fun environment.
“I’ve started going around to their PEs and engaging with them. Getting out and playing sports,” he said. “Realistically, it’s just to help make it a good, safe place” Roe said in the first three days he’s worked in the position, he’s noticed more students are warming up to his presence. At first, they were hesitant, but each day, more kids are giving him high-fives or talking to him.
“I’m mainly trying to get them comfortable with talking to law enforcement, talking with really anyone in a sense of authority, whether it be teachers, principals, adults in general,” he said. “So many kids, when they see someone in uniform, they automatically get scared because of what they’ve maybe seen online or on the news.”
He added that by the end of the year, he’s hoping to start talking to students about topics like gun safety at home.
“And just let them know that, hey, if you see something or something’s going on that you don’t like, we’re safe people to come talk to.”