Council, Meadows Schools get SRO
When it comes to schools, everyone has the same goals. People want children to be happy, healthy, and safe, and they want schools to generate productive members of society. In Adams County, the new School Resource Officer (SRO), Chris Carlisle, has a similar mission. Through the SRO program Carlisle wants to build positive law enforcement experiences for students and a relationship of trust that will span lifetimes.
School resource officers first started appearing in schools as far back as the 1950’s, however, they did not start becoming widespread until the 1990’s and early 2000’s. During the 2019-2020 school year there were about 23,000 sworn school resource officers, and the number has continued to grow. In Idaho, there were about 191 SRO positions In 2023, representing about 67% of Idaho’s school districts. However, they were more likely to be in more populous districts rather than rural ones, something that is continuously improving and is encouraged through grants from the federal government.
Locally, Sheriff Ryan Zollman has made it one of his goals to have a school resource officer, and this year that desire came to fruition with the aid of a grant that will fund the program for the first three years. “He’s very passionate about the program, he really believes in it,” Carlisle said about Sheriff Zollman. The grant is intended to provide the funds to get the program rolling, with the hope that after the three years it will be successful and valued enough by the community to be continuously funded by the Sheriff’s Office. So this year, Chris Carlisle came out of retirement to fill the role of Adams County School Resource Officer.
Chris Carlisle started moving to Adams County in 2018, but was not a full time resident until 2021, when he retired from his 28 year career in law enforcement. He has always had an active role in schools and teaching the community. His wife was a teacher, and he was a youth basketball coach and has been involved in education through things like Sheriff Citizen Academy programs. He has also done a lot of crisis intervention education for law enforcement professionals. Although he retired in 2021, he was volunteering with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office doing background checks and helping to vet candidates for hire. He wasn’t interested in coming back to work as a regular deputy, but was very passionate about the SRO program and believed in giving back to the community. Carlisle said he’s seen a lot of kids throughout his law enforcement career that he felt could have been given a different life if they had a positive mentor in their lives “if I can help be part of that solution for kids” said Carlisle, “then I’m all in in coming out of retirement.”
The SRO is supposed to hold three main roles, that of an educator, informal counselor or mentor, and a law enforcement officer. Carlisle said with the addition of an SRO they are trying to create a partnership between the Sheriff’s Office, the schools, and the community, with the intent of keeping the schools safe so the kids can focus on going to school, but also giving kids a positive role model and interactions with law enforcement, and acting as a mentor, councilor, and a teacher on certain topics. This, of course, takes a lot of buy-in from the community, the teachers, the administration, and the parents. It is also a big shift in community perceptions. “The first time they start seeing a Sheriff’s car parked at the school, you know the first question is what’s wrong?” said Carlisle, “our intent is to make that a normalcy.”
Carlisle wants to build positive relationships between students and law enforcement. “Typically the kids just don’t have a relationship with law enforcement,” he said, but he wants to change that, and be an uplifting support for students that helps them understand there is more to an officer than just a uniform. “That takes some time,” said Carlisle, “to understand that I’m not there just to watch them, I’m there to help them.”
He is not there to be a disciplinarian on behalf of the school, but more to offer encouragement and mentorship. “Sometimes positive reinforcement goes a lot further than just the negative reinforcement,” Carlisle said. So far, the Council and Meadows Valley administration has been very helpful for providing resources and background on the schools and children that could use an extra leg up.
There is also an educational component to the SRO. Each school has things that they feel could be better taught coming from law enforcement. Right now, for example, there is a big emphasis on anti-bullying. He might step in and help with a bullying class, possibly in partnership with a counselor, and he can help share real life consequences for bullying that go beyond the school. Or he might do a class on drug use, for example opioids. He also hopes to start educating about appropriate and inappropriate cell phone use.
If there are crimes being committed on campus, one of the SRO’s roles is to make sure those are being handled appropriately, but the real focus is to educate and help bring parents into solutions instead of putting students into the court system. “That’s not what we want,” Carlisle said, “That’s not what the school wants, that’s not what the courts want, that’s not what law enforcement wants. We want them to learn from it.” He said his goal is to try and find tools that start education at a lower level. For example, for underage tobacco use and vaping, which is a crime, they might try and bring in an education program first rather than starting with punitive measures.
Carlisle is also involved in updating and upgrading school safety. He is working with the schools and administration to update emergency drills and campus security. As an Adams County Deputy, he could respond to other emergencies if he is the closest officer on duty, but his primary focus is on the schools. He divides his time between Meadows Valley and Council School Districts, with the goal of spending about two days a week at each school. He does like to keep people guessing which days and has an office space at each of the schools, where he has had lots of positive drop-by interactions with the students already. He also likes to attend school events when possible, and wants to continue building trust with the students and helping them realize he is not there to ruin their dance or game, but just to help them have fun and build a safe environment. These positive experiences in school can help build a relationship of trust for the rest of the student’s life.
Everyone has been very supportive of the program so far, from the superintendent to the Sheriff’s Office, and Carlisle has been starting to develop other community partnerships with organizations such as Ignite Idaho, an organization whose resources he has been very impressed with. He thinks it was well worth coming out of retirement to get to help grow the SRO program in Adams County. “Otherwise I’m happily retired,” he said, “but I believe in this program.” He said he intends to help the Sheriff’s Office start and build up the program before passing it off and going back to retirement. “I just think this is a really good program and support for this community to have,” said Carlisle, “That’s why the Department of Education is funding these… because they recognize, through statistical data and from performance, that it has really improved the kids’ lives.”
Already, they are seeing the benefits, and Carlisle says he has already had multiple positive interactions, and instances where kids have sought him out. He said when they start seeing positive attitudes, reduced numbers of bullying, kids wanting to be at school, and the truancy rate dropping, then they know they are being successful. “We’re there to ensure the kids have a safe environment so they can be the best they can be.”
