Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
I had the honor this past week of delivering a presentation during Cygnus' combined public safety discipline expo in Atlanta, Georgia. My presentation had to do with school attacks and how much of law enforcement's patrol protocols had evolved in response to such through the last century. From 1891 we really didn't do anything different. In the late '60s, due to riots and snipers, SWAT was developed and grew nationwide. The development of SWAT changed how patrol did business. In 1999 Columbine made us change again and patrol had to take back some of the aggressive "go get 'em" attitude and work. 9/11 changed our outlook again as we took on the reality of terrorist events within our borders.
During one part of the presentation though I discuss School Resource Officers (SROs) and how their function is unique in the public safety arena. After all, we task them NOT with keeping the peace in our schools, but with protecting our children. Think about it... their job in keeping the peace involves every task that might be required to keep our children safe while in that school environment. What I often discuss is what type of person that requires. It is, after all, a special job and does take a special outlook. What is that outlook?
Well, depending on whether it's an elementary school, middle school or high school the officer has to have the appropriate outlook to relate to the students. After all, you can't hold the same conversation with a 2nd grader than you can with a 10th grader and you're not likely to get anywhere near the same questions.
But no matter what age group you're dealing with I realized there are two things I desire and expect from an SRO in
my son's school:
I expect them to be ready and willing to give their life to protect my son, and
I expect them to conduct themselves in such a way as to be a good role model for my son.
Now I know those probably aren't topics normally discussed in cop circles (in my experience) but they are my biggest priorities as a parent. If an active shooter event occurs the SRO's first and biggest priority should be neutralizing the attacker(s). I KNOW that means he or she will probably have some bullets shot at them. Every bullet shot at the SRO is one less shot at a student. I WANT them to be a seven foot tall 350 pound special forces veteran who will absorb 40 rounds before falling. I WANT them to be willing to shield children with their own body and sacrifice themselves to save those children's lives. I fervently hope it never has to happen.
Many of the students in so many of our schools don't have a lot of good examples of adults in their lives. Sad but true. I envision the SRO as a strong role model for the children. While it may seem weird for a male SRO to be a model for a female student or vice-versa, the reality is that eveyr SRO can model certain behaviors that we want ALL of our children to copy: honesty, integrity, independence, compassion and a healthy lifestyle. Now I'm not saying we need to go overboard with it but the students, when they look at the SRO, should see a responsible adult who is always courteous while remaining professional; a human being capable of lending an understanding ear; an accomplished adult who continues to seek improvement through education and exercise as well as sharing their lives in a way that improves the quality of life for others.
What do you think? I would seriously like to see some other thoughts on this topic. Am I way out there in this outlook? or is it shared by some folks out there?
Let me know...
