Itawamba County School District has its own police force

Officers provide safety and help build bridges between students and police

ITAWAMBA COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – School resource officers work to ensure safety on any school campus.

But often, the SROs have to split their time between answering calls in the community and campus patrols.

As a solution, the Itawamba County school district has taken over policing duties.

While patrolling the Itawamba Attendance Center campus, Officer Will Nabors gets strong high fives from students as he holds the door for them.

Officer Nabors is part of the Itawamba County School District’s Police Department.   Chief Terry Johnson was hired in January after serving with the Itawamba County Sheriff’s Office for eighteen years.

Chief Johnson says the world has changed a lot since he was in public school, and safety must be the number one priority.

“That was the way it was when I went to school, hunting rifles in back windows and trading pocket knives on break.  Unfortunately, that ain’t the world we live in now and we have to be prepared,” Chief Johnson said.

The district has hired five full-time police officers, along with Chief Johnson. Superintendent Trey Wiygul says the community support has been overwhelming.

“We’ve had a lot of positive comments coming back from parents, it provides us a comfort, knowing students, faculty, and staff are safe at school,” Supt. Wiygul said.

Having officers on campus throughout the day is a big deterrent to criminal activity but the SROs are playing another role, building bridges between students and police.

“It allows students to see police officers -those in authority- are here for them, just as much as a teacher is, not to get them in trouble. They are here to love on them and care for them. They just want the safety of all students,” said Baden Honeycutt, assistant principal at IAC K-5.

“We have several students that have talked to officers about problems they may be having, concerns and fears and officers help guide them and guide us to keeping things safer,” said Carson Cook, principal at IAC Middle School.

The district funds the bulk of the salaries for its school resource officers.

All SROS in Itawamba County Schools must have at least three years of law enforcement experience to join the force.