The school resource officers work around the clock to keep Lakewood Schools safe. The officers are Justin Jameson and John Betts, who work hard to bring security, knowledge, and well-being to both the schools and the community.
Some of the main jobs the SROs do include handling calls at the schools, teaching the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programs to elementary schoolers, and instructing in some high school classes. The officers are also involved in training teachers and administrators in Alice training, including lockdown and intruder procedures.
SROs aim to be “present in all of the schools, hopefully to deter any type of crime from near or at a school,” Officer Betts said. They maintain a presence at every Lakewood school to ensure that all students, teachers and administrators feel safe and protected.
SROs are essential to have around the schools. “First of all, we’re here for safety and security. We’re here to make sure everybody’s safe. But we’re also here to kind of form some type of bond between the students and the police,” Officer Jameson said.
Obviously, a police officer’s job is to protect people, but what happens when someone is out and about and sees a police officer? They usually tense up and may feel a little fear.
That’s where SROs are vital. They can be your normal police officers but are much more approachable and can provide more comfort than fear. SROs have the same authority as a regular police officer, but they’re a much more humanized and down-to-earth version of one.
“We’re people, and we like music, and we’re fun to be around and stuff like that. That’s a huge shift in the paradigm of what a police officer is,” Officer Betts said.
The SRO’s approachability can also help keep students even safer. “To have them in the building, have them socializing with the kids… it gives us an environment where I think kids can get comfortable with the SROs,” Brent Schremp, a house principal at Lakewood High School, said. “[It lets them] have somebody that they can go to if they’re having problems or issues at home or here at school.”
If they didn’t have the friendly faces and safety that the SROs embody, students may not feel comfortable enough to say when something is happening and many people could get hurt.
The SROs have a busy day, usually from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., stopping at multiple schools and fulfilling many of their duties. They typically start their day helping arrivals to go smoothly at the high school before the pair splits up to go to the middle schools, where Officer Betts tackles Harding and Officer Jameson takes on Garfield.
Being there for arrival and dismissal is important because their presence acts as a deterrent to misbehavior. “Sometimes, during arrival, the parents see us out of the cars, and we’ll be first bumping the kids, they love that,” Officer Jameson said. It’s a good way to ease parents’ minds and also to continue connecting with the kids.
At the middle schools, the officers teach their DARE classes, continue to address any problems, and maintain their presence. Also, around this time of year, the ALICE training begins.
“ALICE is one of many programs that are meant to deal with an active threat,” Officer Jameson said. “So we have to train the staff here. We also have to make other officers familiar with it. If there’s a lockdown, what’s the staff going to do? What are the students going to do? So just tons of training.” Other than that, the officers teach various classes and take on any calls or problems that come their way.
Just like any job, being an SRO has its challenges. Being an SRO means that you’re surrounded by kids all day, every day, and that’s not something that police officers are usually trained for. “We’re shooting, we’re taking reports, we’re investigating scenes,” Officer Jameson said. “There’s no part about how you can interact with kids in high school.”
But with these challenges come rewards. Talking with the students is hard at first, but the officers are able to keep and admire the relationships they make with those students. “The coolest part is seeing the kids grow up and…seeing who they become, from being little guys to driving around,” Officer Betts said. “So that’s definitely the most rewarding part, to see them succeed and go on to graduate and stuff like that.”
It’s fun to be an SRO, and their effect and inspiration are seen throughout all of Lakewood schools and in the hearts of its students. You can find them in the schools and out and about in the city, where you can see for yourself what the Lakewood police are all about. With events like Shop with a Cop, Coffee with a Cop, and the high school tailgate, the SROs’ impact continues to reach more and more people in the community as they work to keep everybody safe.
