Northwood currently has two School Resource Officers (SRO). Sergeant Rob Miller and Deputy Yurida Robles who have both been here for roughly a year and a half. But what exactly do they do? I wanted to find out, so I went to interview them about their jobs.
What made you want to become a police officer?
MILLER: It’s one of those things that I have always wanted to do ever since I was a little kid, I had friend’s parents who were police officers.
ROBLES: Growing up I saw a lot of things that were wrong, not necessarily with law enforcement, but I just felt like I could do something different if I was in this position. I feel that I knew the people that needed help and being in this position I would be able to do more than other officers because of who I am, a female and Hispanic.
Did you choose to work at Northwood? If so, why?
MILLER: I ended up at Northwood because the sheriff came to me and said they needed a supervisor and I told them I would be up for the job. I enjoy the schedule because before this I was an investigation and I was on call nights and weekends.
ROBLES: I was assigned here by my captains, lieutenant and chiefs.
What was your occupation before you started working in a school district?
MILLER: I worked all of our sexual assault cases. I worked on child pornography cases. I used to go on different websites and pose like little kids and people would invite me to meet them at a hotel and then we showed up and busted them.
What is your main role at this school?
MILLER: My main role at this school is just to make sure that the day-to-day security at the school is normal and make sure everything is going how it should be– make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and nothing suspicious is going on, (that) all the staff and students are safe.
ROBLES: I would say my main role at this school is preventive.
What is one thing you never want to happen at school?
MILLER: I mean I think it’s pretty obvious with the way things are nowadays and the way mass casualty events occur; that would be a nightmare. Out here in Chatham County, it’s pretty calm and pretty quiet but there is always an unknown danger; you never know what somebody can do or might do. It’s so hard to predict it because it is always different. We have procedures like lockdown drills which are so important because if we know what staff and students are doing then we can focus more on the threat. Back when Columbine [1999 mass shooting] happened, it was really the first talked-about shooting. Back then, the safety policy [for schools] would be to surround the school and just contain and negotiate. Now it’s just “run to the gunfire” because the biggest thing is if they are shooting at us, they aren’t shooting at students.
ROBLES: I would never want an actual lockdown to happen.
What training is required to become an SRO?
MILLER: We go to a week-long SRO school. It really teaches you how to stand up in front of the classroom and talk about a bunch of different things and how to answer questions. We have to give a presentation on anything that you want to and do a lesson plan for it. We go to a class called Solo Active Shooter, for three days, where we shoot each other to strengthen our skills. We are lucky here that there are two of us most of the time, all the other schools there might only be one. We also go to Advance SRO Survival and that’s another three to four-day class and it’s just an extension of the original, it’s the one you go to after a couple of years to refresh.
ROBLES: To be an SRO you don’t technically have to be a deputy but most of the states require you to be one, so for us in Chatham County you need to be a certified as law enforcement.
Officer Robles, is it different being a female in the law enforcement occupation?
ROBLES: I couldn’t confirm that is is harder, but I do think it is more difficult. Wearing the uniform makes is harder to go to the bathroom. Woman are also sometimes physically less stronger than men The other thing is you’re physically less strong than males and if you want to have a marriage or a kid it’s a lot harder to balance that lifestyle.
-By Emma Quasny
