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Rocky Mount Police describe 29-year school resource officer partnership with Nash County Public Schools
Summary
Rocky Mount Police Department presented an update to the Nash County Public Schools board describing a nearly three-decade School Resource Officer (SRO) partnership, eight permanent SRO assignments in city schools, state certification and training, collaborative safety planning, and student outreach programs.
Chief of the Rocky Mount Police Department gave the Nash County Public Schools Board of Education an update on the department’s School Resource Officer program, saying the city’s partnership with the school system has run nearly three decades and that officers now work full time in city elementary, middle and high schools.
The chief told the board the program includes eight dedicated SROs assigned permanently to schools, state certification for new SROs within three to six months, and a focus on mentorship, crisis intervention and bullying prevention. "Our partnership has been going on with the Nash County Schools for nearly 3 decades, 29 years to be exact," the chief said.
The presentation emphasized consistency and relationship-building. The chief said officers are not routinely rotated and that permanent assignment helps students and administrators build trust: "We don't rotate our SROs. Those SROs are assigned to those administrators in those schools, and they are permanently assigned to those locations." He added that those relationships make students more comfortable reporting bullying or suspicious activity to an officer assigned to the school.
The department described collaborative safety planning with administrators, access to school floor plans for responding officers, annual joint lockdown drills, and specialized training in youth mental-health, crisis intervention, fair/impartial policing and first aid. The chief said officers can provide a rapid unified response in emergencies and that the department can mobilize additional resources quickly if needed.
Speakers also highlighted outreach and preventive programs led or supported by officers, including DARE instruction, "lunch with a cop" events, reading programs and an annual "Packer Patrol" supply drive that raises roughly $10,000 each year to buy backpacks and school supplies for students and teachers.
The chief closed by stressing the department’s commitment to continue the partnership: "We welcome that continued partnership, and I hope to see that for decades to come." The board took the presentation for information; there were no committee actions tied to the SRO update.
The presentation included introductions of Captain Ron Hepler, Lieutenant Meadows and Sergeant Summerlin as staff who work directly with the Nash County Schools in Rocky Mount.
