In 1996, Greg White, an officer with the Jefferson City Police Department, wanted to focus on community policing at Jefferson City High School by building ties and working closely with the school community - but he didn't know many people there.
In December 1996, an opportunity arose that gave him the ideal role for community policing. He became the Jefferson City School District's first school resource officer.
"Like any community-based law enforcement, you've got to truly love the people you serve," said White, who later served as Cole County sheriff from 2005-15. "And I just fell in love with that entire student body. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience, and I think very productive for the student body and the community as a whole."
JC Schools partners with the Jefferson City Police Department to provide school resource officers to the schools. In 1996, the superintendent and police chief decided to start the school resource officer program.
White was the only school resource officer in the district until 1998 when Officer Les Martin became a school resource officer. Martin is still a school resource officer in JC Schools today.
Now, JC Schools has eight school resource officers - at least one at each high school and middle school and two who switch between the elementary schools. The district also has a school resource officer supervisor, Sgt. Joseph Matherne.
The Jefferson City School District provides half the funding for school resource officers' salaries and benefits, and the other half is provided by the Jefferson City Police Department. During the 2019-20 school year, the district paid $342,000 for the school resource officers, Chief Financial Officer Jason Hoffman said.
To become school resource officers in the Jefferson City Police Department, individuals must be in law enforcement for at least two years and undergo two weeks of training where they learn about topics such as classroom management, juvenile law, drug recognition and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, said Chris Gosche, a school resource officer at Jefferson City High School and Capital City High School.
The school resource officers at the Jefferson City Police Department also attend a week-long training each year held by the Missouri School Resource Officer Association.
The Blair Oaks R-2 School District in Wardsville, Cole R-5 School District in Eugene and Cole R-1 School District in Russellville used to share one school resource officer who rotated among the districts. In 2008, a second school resource officer was hired for these schools.
At a Cole County Commission meeting in January 2008, the Blair Oaks Student Council president and vice president spoke about the importance of having full-time school resource officers at all Cole County rural schools.
As a result, the three districts partnered with the Cole County Sheriffs Department later that year to provide a full-time school resource officer in each district.
The Blair Oaks, Russellville and Eugene districts each pay a third of the total cost for the three school resource officers, Blair Oaks Superintendent Jim Jones said.