Chilton County Sheriff’s Office stress the need for School Resource Officers

CLANTON, Ala. (WBRC) - We’ve seen tragic reminders recently of how important school resource officers can be. Several local departments working diligently to ensure their communities and schools remain safe.

The Chilton County Sheriff’s Office is working hard to find a new one before the new school year. Chilton County Sheriff John Shearon stresses they are searching far and wide to fill out the SRO team.

Usually, the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office employs three SRO’s.

One is Verbena Elementary, another at Verbena High School and one for Isabella High School. They’re now looking for a new resource officer at Isabella High School. No one inside the department expressed interest, so now the sheriff is taking outside applications and says good help in law enforcement is hard to find right now.

He believes the SRO position is vital though, not only in protecting the community and kids, but shaping the perception of law enforcement.

“It’s just like the teacher’s role in these kids lives. I mean you’re going to be a mentor to these young students. You’re going to be able to guide them in a way, maybe which way they will go in life. You’re going to give them a hero to look up to,” said Sheriff Shearon.

The Sheriff hopes to have the position filled prior to the start of school, and says his department is short two deputies right now, although they do have one joining from the academy within the next few months.

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