Some schools in Iowa have had police officers on duty for decades, while other schools are deploying so-called School Resource Officers (SROs) for the first time this fall.
Le Mars Police Officer John Vickery is in charge of the parish’s five public school buildings as well as Gehlen Catholic Schools. Vickery says law enforcement is not his primary job.
“I make sure that everyone, the students, the staff here, all of our buildings are safe,” Vickery says. “I do my best to make sure that all of our buildings are secured, that there really is a main access point for them while they’re here to make sure that we can keep everyone safe in their learning environment.”
Another priority as an SRO, according to Vickery, is to build and maintain good relationships with everyone he meets.
“I’m here to build relationships between the students, the staff and the police that benefit us not only here while I’m in the schools, but outside of the schools as well,” he says. “When they have to deal with an officer outside of school, we’ve built a kind of relationship that makes it easier for them to come to us with their problems and also for us to help them.”
Vickery was the SRO when Le Mars police started the program in 2018, and he is now beginning his third term in the position. Still, he says it takes time for students to feel comfortable having a police officer at their school.
“At first, everyone was a little hesitant,” he says. “They thought I was here to enforce laws and crack down on everyone, and gradually they’re realizing I’m here for this relationship, for safety, and just to interact with them and let them get to know me. They ask me all kinds of random personal questions and most of the time I answer them.”
Vickery says the hardest part of his job is when he has to deal with students from a law enforcement perspective. He says good kids sometimes make bad decisions, and while he tries to give them the benefit of the doubt, he still has a job to do.
(By John Slegers, KLEM, Le Mars)
