School Resource Officers Ready for New Year
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JACKSON, Tenn. – School resource officers are preparing for students to head back to class. “It‘s best to be prepared,” said Jackson Police Officer Robert Heathcock. Heathcock serves as a school resource officer or SRO at Tigrett Middle School. Before classes begin, he plans to meet with teachers, review emergency procedures, and check all the locks on campus. “We sure don’t want people coming in the building unless we know they’re coming in the building,” said Heathcock. SROs do not get summer vacation. When school is not in session, many times they still patrol the area of their school. “Some of us work in patrol,” said Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Flowers, a school resource officer at Northeast Middle School. “Some of us work with warrants division and serve papers, arrest papers and civil papers.” SROs also have mandatory training during the summer. “We do a 24 hour in-service,” said Heathcock. “All SROs are required to do that annually.” The Jackson-Madison County School System has 11 SROs who primarily deal with fights, thefts, and sometimes parents. “The resource officers are there to protect children, to help them, and to make the environment safe, so that they can adequately learn what they‘re supposed to learn,” said Dr. Portia Hegmon, JMCSS Student Services Supervisor. Heathcock is ready for students to return. “Come to school Friday with a good attitude and be ready to learn,” he said. Most Jackson-Madison County high schools and all middle schools have school resource officers. Students in Jackson-Madison County head back to class on Friday.
