By Shawn Nowlin
For years, staffing throughout Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS) has been an issue. That reality improved when the Roanoke School Board recently celebrated the local police department and Sheriff’s Office for their partnership with the School Resource Officer (SRO) program.
After meeting all of the necessary objectives, every school building was appointed an SRO for the first time. The 2023-24 SROs are both Black and White, old and young and male and female. Sophia Ametepe, a third-grader at Wasena Elementary School, presented every new SRO with an art award during a recent ceremony.
Providing law enforcement and effective security services are the primary duties of an SRO. Since many of the new hires grew up in the Star City, they are familiar with the landscape
The first day of school for RCPS youth was August 22, and the SROs were there to greet the students with fist bumps, waves and high fives. Said encounters are expected to be an indication of what’s to come in the foreseeable future and beyond.
“We are fortunate to have a well-established partnership between Roanoke City Schools and the Roanoke Police Department that extends well over the last three decades. I have seen this collaborative effort expand and build relationships that are both professional and personal with school members and students,” former William Fleming SRO Tim Jones previously said.
Continuing, he added, “Over these many years some of the student contacts made by those early SRO’s influenced children to become police officers themselves or changed the course of their lives by the relationships established.”
The reaction to the new additions has been positive from parents. On what she expects this year, Mandy Smith, a mother of four said, “Kids should feel comfortable when they see an officer in uniform. Unfortunately, that is not the case for many of our youth. It takes time to earn a child’s trust, but once you do, that changes everything. I’m happy that we have more SROs in our school system. This should prove to be a great investment.”
Over the last 36 months, the number of SROs has grown from seven to 26.
While the new hires will not solve every problem, it is a significant step in the right direction. “It is obviously impossible to say with 100 percent certainty that no problems will arise,” Carlos Cruz said. “I do sleep better at night, however, knowing that there is one SRO for every school.”
