Sheriff Patrick Ray has been pleased with the School Resource Officer program at DeKalb County High School and would like to see another one in the school system.
Sheriff Ray said grant funds have been sought in recent years for another position without success. “We tried to apply for another SRO two or three years ago, but we did not get that position. We would like to see another SRO in our school system. We would like to see one stationed at DeKalb West School who could also help with schools in Smithville We will probably try again for a grant,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kenneth Whitehead, School Resource Officer at DCHS, has filed his year end report with Sheriff Ray.
In his letter to Sheriff Ray, Officer Whitehead reported ” As you can see, it has been a very busy year. I have made many arrests and sometimes we tend to think the worst of our school system because of those arrests. Regardless of the numbers, I feel that the school resource officer program is a great asset to the DeKalb County school system. We should not look at only the arrests and evaluate the success or failure of the program, but the overall results both good and bad. I have met with many students and dealt with all kinds of problems throughout this school year. I feel that due to this contact that I have helped these students deal with some problems that the school system just does not have time to deal with. I also feel that just my presence at the school does wonders for the student body. I hope that the school system and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department continues to see the importance of the school resource officer program and what benefits it can obtain from having it. I have enclosed a copy of the 2011-12 school year SRO report. I hope that my reports will help show that there is a need for a second school resource officer in our school system,” wrote Whitehead.
The report is as follows:
42 misdemeanor arrests at school (juvenile petitions)
9 drug arrests
27 assists with patrols or with detective divisions of the sheriff’s department or police department
776 advisory sessions with students (six of those were with students families and three with law enforcement officers)
236 advisory sessions with parents.
382 advisory sessions with a teacher or staff member
37 classroom lectures
32 special school events attended
30 court appearances
28 motorist assists in parking lot of school
8 club meetings attended
46 cigarette citations
9 fights
Total value of reported stolen property $2,627, of which $2,415 in property was recovered.
Some alcohol, marijuana, pills, and bb gun seized from the school.
15 unruly juveniles dealt with
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