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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Johnson City Police Department plans to utilize state funding to improve its School Resource Officer (SRO) program and school safety features.
The funding comes from a statewide School Resource Officer Program grant designed to support schools with one full-time officer in each school.
All 95 counties in the state have received funding, with approximately $98 million already allocated.
Johnson City’s SRO unit supervisor, Sgt. Jeff Jenkins said there are already officers at every school. Science Hill High School currently has two his SROs.
Jenkins said the plan is to increase the safety of students and staff and allocate funds to continue the important work they do every day.
Under Jenkin’s command is Officer Eric Hilton, the SRO at Towne Acres Elementary School. His daily routine consists of checking the school’s doors and surroundings, but also includes opening bags of crackers and milk comics in the lunchroom.
Hilton also teaches an after-school etiquette class called Solid Foundation to students.
“This is the idea of a strong foundation, building that foundation early in hopes of continuing through middle school and high school,” Hilton said.
Hilton has been an SRO for 17 years and also supports Police Explorers and the Junior Academy. As an SRO, he gets to mentor kids and watch them grow, an experience he said isn’t always available in other forms of law enforcement.
“So I think it’s a little bit selfish to know what you’re doing and how you’re helping,” Hilton said.
Jenkins is an SRO at Topper Academy and came to work on SRO Appreciation Day with a surprise from students and staff: thank you cards and specially printed sweatshirts.
“It’s nice to see you’ve gone the extra mile. They appreciate that,” Jenkins said.
The state funding will help them “harden their targets,” as Jenkins puts it, by putting bulletproof film on windows, securing entrances and adding cameras. However, these are all elements that are just part of daily work.
“The first thing we have to do is we’re here to stop something,” Jenkins said. “But what we do every day, the bridges we repair and the relationships we build with our children are much more important.”
Jenkins said the funding will also help with further training for officers. Additionally, there is also talk that Science will add his third SRO to Hill High School. Jenkins is also working to bring executives to a national SRO conference for the first time.
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