by Morgan Montalvo
WOAI News
Eighteen Bexar County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputies are now certified Texas School Resource Officers, WOAI News reports.
The part-time, unpaid peace officers on Tuesday completed training required to work on area campuses in districts that choose to deploy the deputies in addition to, or in place of, full-time school district police.
David Rios, a local educator and reserve deputy, says the 20-hour SRO training program is an eye-opener for peace officers who are new to working on a campus.
He says any officer willing to establish communication proactively with students will be successful.
“Sitting down with them on a one-on-one basis, getting to know some of the parents, it’s a good thing,” says Rios, who has taught high school for six years.
Rios says his students like having a peace officer as a teacher and role model.
“My kids already know that I’m a deputy sheriff, so they’re excited.
Also, recruiting my kids, I’ve got two kids that are in the Bexar County Sheriff’s Academy right now,” he says of a pair of former students.
This week’s graduating SRO class is the first for a group of local reserve deputies.
PHOTO: North East ISD police officers, area deputy constables, and Bexar County Sheriff's Office reserve deputies attend a Tuesday workshop on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at the NEISD Community Education Center. The class was part of the final day of instruction for the first 18 BCSO reserve deputies to earn Texas School Resource Officer certification. Photo by Morgan Montalvo