JCPD officer serves to protect local students

Officer Chris Gosche of the Jefferson City Police Department poses in the department's classroom. Gosche serves as a School Resource Officer in the Jefferson City Public Schools.
Officer Chris Gosche of the Jefferson City Police Department poses in the department's classroom. Gosche serves as a School Resource Officer in the Jefferson City Public Schools.

Jefferson City Police Department Officer Chris Gosche said his reasons for being in law enforcement are pretty simple. He knew when he thought about joining that he liked to help people and "I just knew I didn't want to be in an office."

Gosche was hired by JCPD at the age of 22 in 2001, and he's been working there ever since - minus a little detour of a tour of duty around the country and overseas.

He's a veteran of the Missouri Air National Guard, and was activated after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - just after he'd been hired at JCPD.

He filled in with the Guard at St. Louis, then served at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, followed by a couple months in Iceland and then back to St. Louis before the Air Force let him off orders - "which is good, because I would've missed my wedding," he said.

He was born and raised in Jefferson City, and attended St. Joseph Cathedral and Helias Catholic High School as a student.

Education is still in his life every day, seeing as he's a school resource officer with Jefferson City Public Schools at Jefferson City High School, and his wife, Becky, teaches ESOL for the school district at Pioneer Trail Elementary School.

Chris is in his eighth year as an SRO, and it's his second full year at JCHS. He was at Thomas Jefferson Middle School before that.

Becoming an SRO wasn't an intention he had when he became an officer, but it came up over time.

Transferring from a middle school to the high school wasn't his choice, just what was assigned to him. "I'll go wherever they tell me to go," he said.

He admitted he was a little nervous coming to the high school, with "more adult problems" to deal with, but he likes that many students who came there from Thomas Jefferson still know him.

He's enjoyed having gotten to watch them grow - some students having grown into making better choices, he said.

"Really getting to talk to the kids" is his favorite part of the job. Though high school students generally haven't been as talkative as their younger peers, he said he tries to smile, make eye contact and joke around.

Most of his job as an SRO includes security patrols such as walking around and checking doors - "just trying to stay visible."

Following summer school, he'll fill in on the road and at big events and celebrations like Thursday Night Live and the Fourth of July.

"It's fun for a little bit," he said of doing that kind of police work again, but he also appreciates a more typical schedule built around school hours. "My wife likes me being home at a normal time."

He and his wife have a daughter, Lynn, in eighth grade and a son, Emry, in fifth grade.

When he's not at home, on the job or working out at the gym, he helps coach Immaculate Conception School's archery team, and helps with his daughter's volleyball team and his son in Boy Scouts of America, especially with being in charge of selling popcorn.

"I'm like their dad," he said of the high school students he works around every day, and he's got "dad jokes" to go with.

He didn't have any at the ready, but he said he looks up some new ones when he gets the chance.

For example, he didn't specify if he's the "Popcorn Colonel" or "Popcorn Kernel" when he's helping his son in Scouts.

Something else the students may not know about him is that he's got a karaoke reputation at family gatherings.

"I'm told I do a pretty good rendition of it," he said of Michael Jackson's "Beat It."