Video: School Resource Officers Find The Balance With Students

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- School Resource Officers.  They definitely have to find a balance between being a friend and mentor, and being an officer.

“My relationship with the students is a good one,” said Jimmy Bonner, chief of SRO’s for Columbus Municipal School District.  “Some of our duties, mostly is to maintain security.”

But sometimes their duties go beyond that.

“They serve as mentors to our male and female students, because when they can’t come to administrators or don’t feel comfortable coming to a counselor, they have SRO officers who’s there to fulfill the needs of personal issues,” said Freda Dismukes, director of the freshman academy.

“We want them to see us that way, not be afraid of the badge and the gun, and it makes me feel real proud to know that these kids will come to use and talk about anything,” said Chief Bonner.

Bonner has been an SRO in Columbus for 25 years. He said it’s important for both his staff and the students to trust each other.

“Most of them know us from the community,” Bonner said. “They know how we are, how we act, and they know we’re not going to push them to the side.”

And because of that trust, Bonner said it becomes quite easy to find that balance between being a friend to the students, and being an officer.

“When a kids leaves the home in the morning and come into the school, we don’t know how they left that home,” said chief Bonner. “When they enter into the school we try to be there to meet them, to greet them and let them know we are there friends and also the officers, and they know out role. If something happens they know the action we’ll have to take.”

In fact, Bonner said the dedication to the students goes beyond the school. If the kids see something happening in the community, they often let Bonner and his staff know about it once they return to school.

“They tell is what’s going on and nine times out of ten, we notify the local police and let them know what’s going on so we can diffuse the situation before it ever happens.”

The SRO’s at Columbus High School are all state certified police officers.

Columbus High School is also one of the only districts in the entire state to have their own police department established in the school.