Security and Preparedness is the answer!
In the December edition of The Coosa
Journal, which is published monthly by the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office and
Firm Foundations, I wrote an investigative piece on the work of the School
Resource Officer assigned to Coosa Central School Campus. This was December 2012! This was just a month ago, and after the
November 30, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School incident which claimed the life
of 26 individuals at Sandy Hook-students and school staff members.
It has been said that the incident
which took place at Sandy Hook is “the second deadliest school shooting in
United States history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech. massacre.” Also stated is that it was “the second
deadliest mass murder at an Elementary school, after the 1927 Bath School
bombing in Michigan.”(Notes: 4) Two of
three mentioned have happened in my lifetime and both have affected me more
than I can say.
We have reached an all time low in
securing and offering our children a safe and quality education. I grew up in a time when we walked to school,
played on a play ground without a fence, and freely roamed the halls without
any one questioning our motives. The
front doors of the school and the back doors were propped open to allow
ventilation; no thought about the bad man coming through with assault rifles and
pistols blazing. Growing up in a neighborhood,
with the school within sight of the house, we played hours on hours, without
once thinking that there was danger, or someone was going to hurt us, injure
us, or kill us.
Yet, now, everyone is scrambling to
find what might fail on their campus, should an assault take place. Now we have decided that it is time to lock
doors, limit access, and send the kids to school with ballistic clothing. Now the media and some elected officials are
pushing for banning guns, arming teachers and/or making them Reserve Officers
of a law enforcement office, and put lock boxes with a loaded gun in the
classrooms.
While I am the first to take a stand
that we need to increase security measures, institute and limit access to our
public school buildings and campus; I advocate the need to do everything within
our power to maintain an environment in which teachers can safely do what they
are paid to do and students can know they have an environment in which they can
learn, grow and exercise their minds and bodies. That same foot I stand so strongly on, is the
same foot I put down and say that we do not need to arm or provide arms for
teachers in the classroom. No, that is
not the answer; just as the answer is not for the government to “infringe” upon
my right to bear arms.
Sleepless nights have been spent going over
the news from the day the sad details were first released and the days
following the Sandy Hook Elementary incident.
I have listened to news commentators and read article after article with
details pertaining to the shooter and what transpired in the minutes following
the death of innocent people. The school
was a secure facility and there was a camera on the front door. If we can believe the accounts the assailant
entered the building after shooting out the window in the door and unlocking
the door, giving him access to the building.
He encountered his first victim, which was the principal and killed
her.
Now stop right there for a moment, and let me share my
thought. If the school had employed the use
of an SRO on this campus, would he/she not have been the first person the
assailant encountered? I would speculate
the principal or the school counselor were not trained in a confrontation of
this magnitude, nor were they wearing bullet proof vest, nor were they insured
to perform this task. Yes, sensing
danger, they reacted and died heroes in my book, but if a SRO had been present
things might-I stress might-have come out very different.
With these thought in mind, I want to share with you
the article from The Coosa Journal, regarding our School Resource Officer. Additionally, I am sharing this with you,
because there seems to be some who are not aware of the tremendous task
assigned to them. A SRO is more than a
“Rent-A-Cop” or a D.A.R.E. Officer, or a Security Guard.
I hope you will see from this article why I am a
strong advocate of the SRO.
SRO: School Resource Officer
A school doesn't have
to have serious problems in order to have a School Resource Officer nor does it
mean that a school has serious problems if it has an SRO. Rather, having an SRO
may help prevent a wide variety of problems from arising or from getting worse
in the future.
What is the School
Resource Officer Program?
The School Resource Officer program
(SRO) is a nationally accepted and widely used program which places
specially-trained law enforcement officers in elementary, middle and high
school settings. Besides being a positive role model for the students and a law
enforcement officer, the SRO is a resource for students, parents, teachers and
administrators regarding many issues including, but not limited to, issues
related to law and justice.
What Does the
School Resource Officer Do?
School Resource Officers (SROs) are
involved in prevention efforts at the school and in the community and provide a
link between the school and social service agencies in the community which
provide education, prevention, and counseling services. Working with
administrators in each school, the SRO assists with finding solutions to
problems affecting the students.
The SRO program is a proactive
approach dealing with such issues as the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other
drugs, in addition to dealing with peer pressure, gang activity, and sex. SROs
work alone and as part of a team consisting of teachers, parents, students, and
school administrators. Depending upon the issue at hand, members of the health
care community, faith community, business sector, and others may participate as
part of the team in order to best address any given issue.
One of the most important aspects of
the SRO program is the ability of the officer to develop teamwork in fighting
many problems that students today are facing.
In addition to the activities
mentioned above, School Resource Officers investigate crimes occurring within
the school and on school property, and foster the creation of a link between
law enforcement and the students.
A Picture of Central
Coosa SRO
Our SRO, Deputy Tim Lipscomb begins
his day around 7:00 AM each morning when school is in session with, “2210 to
2200, on duty in the School Zone.”
As students arrive on campus, he is seen patrolling through the school
parking lots, maintaining traffic, and keeping order as 1,200 students, faculty
and staff start a day of learning the basics for a life in the “real
world.” A routine day for Deputy
Lipscomb is walking the halls, socializing with the students, faculty and staff
and keeping a law enforcement presence on the campus. This is his “beat;” has been for the last six
years.
“The SRO is a Certified Uniformed
Officer assigned to a campus as a law enforcement resource for students,
faculty and staff,” explained Deputy Lipscomb.
“My primary reason for being on the campus at Central is to serve as
security, but secondly I am here to handle law enforcement issues and to assist
the students and staff.”
The SRO position is relatively a new
addition to law enforcement. It began in
Florida in the 1990’s as a small group of law enforcement individuals who were
assigned to schools within the state.
Since its inception, the position now is recognized and used throughout
the United States. DARE-Drug Awareness
and Resistance Education-provided a law enforcement person in the classroom, as
a non-armed Certified Uniformed Officer, teaching and instructing within the
classroom setting; the School Resource Officer came on the heels of that
program and provided a school wide armed Certified Uniformed Officer to serve
in the capacity of campus wide security and service.
While a SRO deals with minor issues
which occur on campus, such as traffic to major situations such as thief, there
is the opportunity to spend time in the classroom, mentoring, and developing a
trust and respect for law enforcement.
Deputy Lipscomb has the privilege of instructing fifth and sixth graders
in life skills education within the classroom.
The program he uses is one which teaches and deals with the issues which
face this young, impressionable generation.
He has a chance to share with them the dangers and pitfalls of drugs,
tobacco, drinking, gangs, shoplifting, and other common problems. This also affords him another opportunity to
mentor these students and provide an opening for frank conversation with the
students.
“Through this time on the campus, I give students a law enforcement
figure that is not kicking in a door and taking mom or dad away in handcuffs,”
Deputy Lipscomb explains, “but someone they can trust, respect and have a
relationship with. Because of my
involvement with them on campus, they recognize me outside of the school
setting in a friendly, positive manner”
Through the presence of the SRO, Deputy Lipscomb has given students a
positive view of the law enforcement officer, opening a door for them to talk
honestly and openly without fear. “It
has taken time and patience, six years, but we are seeing some fruits to the
labor.” Lipscomb says.
He continued, “I am seeing more students who are coming to me with their
problems, struggles and questions; it has taken time and patience.”
SRO Lipscomb is also the point person for security at ballgames, dances,
and other school functions. He is
assisted in these details with members of the CCSO Reserve Unit. Lipscomb also attends all Board of Education
meetings, providing a law enforcement presence, but also assisting in matters
of discipline which may come before the Board.
These are all functions of the SRO which are after hours and “off the
clock,” but important and vital to the work of the SRO.
Through the SRO, Red Ribbon week is celebrated on the campus of Coosa
Central. By the assistance of the United
Way, funds have been secured which allow Lipscomb to give students trinkets to
remind them that the choice is made by them to identify and avoid those things
which will bring with it heartache and trouble.
Each year, during the annual Harvest Festival of the Central Elementary
School, Lipscomb brings McGruff to the campus for the children to visit with
and receive some small item. It is the
Sheriff and Lipscomb who also each year sponsor Buster, the talking School Bus.
Tim Lipscomb comes to the position
with not only certification as a member of the Certified Law Enforcement
community, but also has received three weeks of specialized training in School
Resource Officer certification.
Additionally, his certification is just shy of certification to serve as
a SRO instructor.
Let
us take a moment to applaud the Sheriff and the Coosa County School Board for
their yearly agreement to provide a School Resource Officer for Coosa Central
School Campus. This is complimented by a
capable and patient man such as Deputy Tim Lipscomb.
Notes:
1)
The Coosa
Journal is published once a month and is available in print, free of charge,
from the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office in Rockford, Alabama and by .pdf format
at www.coosacountyso.org.
2)
Some information
for the article on the SRO was taken from an article found at: www.people.missouristate.edu .
3)
Pictures are
courtesy of CCSO and Jeff Fuller.
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