Police officers’ presence in our schools is no longer a new or surprising concept. We may wish it didn’t have to be this way, but we would be missing out on important and often overlooked roles police officers perform and relationships they build.
As gleaned from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website, School Resource Officers (SROs) serve as comprehensive resources in the schools to which they are assigned. The Center for Safer Schools’ research-derived definition of an SRO is: a certified law enforcement officer who is permanently assigned to provide coverage to a school or a set of schools. The SRO is specifically trained to perform three roles:
Law enforcement officer
Counselor
Educator
By federal definition, an SRO is a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. The National Association of SROs (NASRO) recommends that agencies select officers carefully for these assignments and that officers receive at least 40 hours of specialized training in school policing before being assigned.
The goals of well-founded SRO programs include providing safe learning environments in our nation’s schools, providing valuable resources to school staff members, fostering positive relationships with youth, developing strategies to resolve problems affecting youth and protecting all students, so that they can reach their fullest potentials. NASRO considers it a best practice to use a “triad concept” to define the three main roles of school resource officers: educator (i.e. guest lecturer), informal counselor/mentor, and law enforcement officer.
Closer to home, I spoke with SRO Alex Trisano and Victorian Simmons, Public Information Officer at the Apex Police Department to garner a more comprehensive understanding of the role and responsibilities of the school resource officer here in Apex.
Both shared that while SROs are in schools to protect the campus from any danger or threat that might occur, they also seek to build relationships with the staff, students, and parents of the campus they serve. The SRO is a mentor, a friend, a counselor, a teacher, and a part of the campus administration team.
“For me,” Trisano said, “the reason why I became an SRO is to get to know the students and basically change the narrative. A lot of kids come to school with a bias towards the police. I invite them to come to my office. We talk about sports and really, anything. Sometimes, teachers ask me to come to their class but with no agenda. These are more like a meet and greet. I visit and for 45 minutes I talk about being a police officer, I share my career history. I’m an open book. Whatever you want to know.”
All Apex schools have an SRO assigned to them. The selection process is competitive and takes place within the department, where qualified officers are chosen for team openings. To be an SRO for the Apex PD, a candidate must have a minimum of three years as a police officer. Once selected, an SRO must serve for a minimum of four years but there is no limit to how long they can remain in that position. It is recommended that candidates for SRO hold at least an associate’s degree and demonstrate effective teaching, writing, and organizational skills.
SROs must complete the School Resource Officer’s Certification program through the Law Enforcement Training and Standards at the North Carolina Department of Justice. They are also required to complete crisis intervention training before they start.
In terms of building relationships with the school community, Trisano noted that the SROs in Apex do a great job of becoming part of the school’s campus culture and with this intentional approach to relationship building, they seek to change perception. Relationship building takes time, however, and this is time that Trisano never had working for the NYPD during his first 22 years in law enforcement. He has been with Apex’s police department for seven years now and loves the impact he’s making.
“In New York, being assigned to SRO duty was seen as a punishment. Here in Apex, there is competition to become an SRO. I’m approaching the end of my career, and I want to be productive and make a difference. There are times when the assistant principal is trying to connect with a student over something with no success. They’ll reach out to me — they call me the whisperer — and the student and I go to my office and we work it out. Changing the narrative so their first interaction with a police officer isn’t negative. It’s often about going above and beyond. You have to be vested,” Trisano shared.
As further evidence of the SROs’ commitment to be part of the school community and to strengthen that bond, Apex SROs are provided with specially marked patrol vehicles. While maintaining the Apex police markings, the color scheme of these vehicles aligns with that of the school they serve, and the hood is prominently labeled with the school’s name and mascot.
Trisano shared a few stories that demonstrate how building relationships with students translates into positive community outcomes.
A student’s family was in crisis (i.e., lost their home) and the student shared this with Trisano who leveraged the police department’s access to resources. With Mayor Gilbert’s help, the police department was able to assist the family.
Another student, who Trisano termed a frequent flyer (i.e., a student who returns for counsel and advice frequently), had a very difficult home life. The rough and rocky family dynamic compelled this student to run away a lot. But, becausew of the trust and rapport Trisano established with this student, she was always amenable to his outreach if and when she ran away. In the end, she had to complete her high school education online and when graduation time came, though it was happening at a different school, she invited Trisano to attend.
“A lot of times you hear the complaints. But, when things like this happen, that’s my recognition and my reward,” he said.
Lastly, Trisano noted that some students who have since graduated and moved on to their next life chapter have found the time and the inclination to come back to visit him.
Public Information Officer Victorian Simmons added, “Working with students changes mindsets. Yes, SROs are there to keep people safe, but they are also establishing trust. With this trust, students’ perspectives change.”
Simmons noted that the latest Apex census information shows that the two largest population groups in Apex are high school age kids and parents. And, while there are SROs dedicated to elementary, middle and high schools in Apex, it’s important to point out how the SROs are influencing the largest age group/population here.
“SROs help shape the population’s relationship with law enforcement. Their (high school kids) expectations of law enforcement change for the positive and from there, those kids become parents who no longer carry a negative bias towards the police,” Simmons shared.
And no doubt, that positive perception can be a comfort to students and parents alike. Picture your child leaving school stressed about calculus homework, classmate drama and a looming presentation later that week. She tosses her backpack on the passenger seat and presses the ignition button, but nothing happens. The battery is dead. With mom and dad at work, this might seem like the perfect time to panic, but it’s not. She heads back into school, confident that the school resource officer will help.
Situations like this one are regular occurrences at our high schools especially. Our SROs also have been known to fix a flat tire, provide quick coaching words between classes, display lots of school spirit, manage celebratory parades, and befriend students when a friend is what is needed most. With SROs on campus, and when they are as vested as Alex Trisano, trust and community bonds are strengthened one engagement, one interaction at a time.
Here is the list of officers for the 2024-2025 school year in Apex. School assignments are subject to change given the needs of the department, WCPSS, and the individual school campus needs. As we were preparing this story, Apex hired two more SROs, bring the total to 11. Apex now has the most in Wake County (including Raleigh), which speaks to the importance that Apex places on school safety.
