The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that its school resource program will be fully staffed for the first time in years.
“Hamilton County is the fourth largest county in this state. We don’t intend to be fourth place in anything. We’re going to be No. 1, especially when it comes to our kids,” Sheriff Austin Garrett said at a news conference. “The safety and education and the well-being of our children is the most important mission of Hamilton County.”
As of Aug. 23, the Sheriff’s Office will employ all 32 of the school resource deputies allocated for in this year’s budget. A few will need to finish specialized training after that date.
Gov. Bill Lee signed into law his school safety funding package after the March 27 shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. The funding allows local law enforcement agencies to apply for grants to place school resource officers on every public school campus in the state.
“It’s my perspective that the most important members of our community are those SRDs who step into our schools as a support for principals and teachers, loving on students, but ultimately, they’re prepared for the worst,” Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp said.
The grant, as well as partnerships with the Soddy-Daisy and East Ridge police departments, will also allow the Sheriff’s Office to expand the school resource program to include the public charter schools in the county. Garrett aims for Hamilton to be the first county in the state to staff a school resource officer at each of its charter schools.
“Let me make this very clear, charter schools are public schools. They are no different than our traditional schools,” state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said. “We need to treat them with the same level of respect and attention that we give to our public schools.”
As of Friday, the Soddy-Daisy Police Department provides two school resource officers to the charter schools in its jurisdiction. The East Ridge Police Department will employ four school resource officers to serve traditional public schools in its area.
East Ridge’s contribution frees up two of the 32 school resource deputies in the Sheriff’s Office to cover charter schools in Chattanooga. Garrett intends to hire deputies to staff the other four charter schools by the spring.
The decision to expand the program into the county’s charter schools came after Skillern Elementary CEO Angela Markum reached out to local officials in early July. When Markum was first told by the sheriff that his office hadn’t prepared to include charter schools in the school resource program, she was disappointed. Collaboration between the school, Watson, Garrett and local police departments eventually made it possible.
Staff Photo by Olivia Ross / Sheriff Austin Garrett speaks to members of the media during a news conference. Garrett, Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and other officials gathered Friday to discuss the Hamilton County Sherriffs Offices school resource program.
“They’re great role models for the kids,” Markum said in an interview. “You’ve got a role model, you’ve got protection, you’ve got communication with a whole police force. We haven’t had that before.”
School resource officers complete specialized training for their position in addition to general field training. The Sheriff’s Office will spearhead the training for the school resource officers employed by Chattanooga area police departments as well to ensure the training is standardized across the county.
“It’s important as well, having somebody who understands the culture and the specifics of the role, having a multicultural approach,” Meg Webb, the Sheriff Office’s grant writer, said in an interview. “Like, specifically, if there’s an all-girls school, we’re not going to place a male SRD there; that wouldn’t be appropriate.”
The Sheriff’s Office works with the Hamilton County Department of Education to determine which schools have a school resource deputy, Garrett said. Other campuses are served by a school security officer, who is employed by the school district and serves in a similar capacity but is not legally authorized to make arrests. The district filled all of its security officer positions before the first day of school, spokesperson Steve Doremus said previously by email.
“We want every child to have access to quality public education,” Wamp said during the news conference. “Unfortunately, in today’s world, that begins with ensuring that it’s a safe place to learn.”
Staff Photo by Olivia Ross / Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson speaks to members of the media during a news conference. Sheriff Austin Garrett, Watson, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp and other officials gathered Friday to discuss the Hamilton County Sherriffs Offices school resource program.Ellen Gerst contributed reporting to this story.
Contact Shannon Coan at scoan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.