Chris Williams, long-time school resource officer (SRO) at the Camdenton R-3 School District, was presented June 26 with the Missouri School Resource Officer of the Year award during the Missouri School Resource Officers Association 2014 Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach.
"It was definitely a pleasant surprise. I never would have imagined," Williams said. "I didn't find out until I was walking in and they sat me at the front of the table."
Williams, one of three SROs at the district who works primarily at Camdenton High School, has been an SRO at Camdenton since 1997 and was one of the first two SROs in the Lake Area. In his nearly 17 years at the district, he has helped boost safety with projects such as coordinating safety and active shooter drills, facilitating biennial docudramas that simulate an alcohol-related vehicle accident using student actors to teach students the dangers of driving impaired and writing two "Secure Our Schools" grants that allowed the district to install additional security cameras in all buildings and buses in 2010 and 2011.
"His ability to build relationships with staff and students is his biggest asset. This allows Chris to be very proactive in stemming off problems and issues and also helps him be more effective when issues do arise," said Camdenton R-3 Superintendent Tim Hadfield, who, with support from Camdenton Chief of Police Laura Wright, nominated Williams for the award. "Through Officer Williams' leadership our district has seen a dramatic decrease in safety-related issues over the past few years."
Some campus violence and crime statistics have decreased by 50 to 70 percent just in the past year, which correlates with the installation of the security cameras, Wright noted. The number of assaults plummeted from 12 in 2012 to five in 2013, and peace disturbances dropped to only five in 2013 from 19 in 2012.
"The officers and the principals working together, I think, is a major contributor of why our school is safe and we don't have a lot of big problems," Williams said. "Having school officers in a school is absolutely a deterrent for crime as well as it definitely kind of breaks down that wall for kids to see that nice side of law enforcement when they're able to talk to an officer. ... All of our interaction with the students kind of breaks that wall down and they see the police officers are the good guys, and that pays off later in life."
SRO is the only position Williams has held since being hired by the Camdenton Police Department.
"You can see the results of your work and interaction with the students in a positive manner," he said. "That's where I feel like I'm doing the best job, so that's why I've stuck with it so long."