School Resource Officer's

School Resource Officers

The Lewis County Sheriff's Office is proud to partner with local school districts to provide dedicated School Resource Officers (SROs) who work to maintain safe, secure, and positive learning environments for students, staff, and visitors.

The Sheriff's Office currently provides two School Resource Officers serving schools within Lewis County. Deputy Jason Slater serves the Lewis County C-1 School District, which includes Highland High School and Highland Elementary School. Sergeant Devon Willis serves as the School Resource Officer at Canton High School within the Canton R-V School District.

Deputy Jason Slater #489
Email: jslater@lewiscosheriff.org 
Lewis County C-1 School District

Deputy Jason Slater serves as the School Resource Officer for the Lewis County C-1 School District and is assigned to both Highland High School and Highland Elementary School.

Deputy Slater works closely with school administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, and emergency personnel to help maintain a safe and welcoming school environment. His presence within both schools allows him to build relationships with students while also addressing safety concerns and assisting school officials when law enforcement involvement is necessary.

Sergeant Devon Willis #488
Email: dwillis@lewiscosheriff.org 
Canton R-V School District

Sergeant Devon Willis serves as the School Resource Officer for Canton High School within the Canton R-V School District.

In addition to his supervisory responsibilities with the Sheriff's Office, Sergeant Willis works directly with Canton High School administrators, faculty, staff, and students to promote school safety, provide law enforcement resources, and develop positive relationships between students and law enforcement.

Role of a School Resource Officer

A School Resource Officer is a sworn law enforcement officer specially assigned to work within a school environment. The role of an SRO combines school safety, law enforcement, education, emergency preparedness, and student mentorship.

An SRO is not intended to replace school administrators or handle routine school discipline. Instead, the SRO works as part of the school safety team and becomes involved when circumstances involve criminal activity, threats to safety, emergency situations, or other matters requiring law enforcement assistance.

By working inside the school on a regular basis, SROs become familiar with students, staff, facilities, procedures, and potential safety concerns. This allows them to respond quickly during an emergency while also providing students with an opportunity to interact with law enforcement in a positive setting.

Duties and Responsibilities
School Resource Officers may be responsible for:

• Providing a visible law enforcement presence within the school.
• Building positive relationships with students, faculty, staff, and parents.
• Responding to criminal incidents and potential threats occurring on school property.
• Investigating crimes involving students, staff, school property, or school-related activities when appropriate.
• Assisting school administrators with safety and security concerns.
• Evaluating suspicious activity, threatening statements, and other potential safety issues.
• Participating in threat assessment and behavioral safety planning.
• Assisting with emergency response planning and school crisis procedures.
• Working with administrators to develop and review lockdown, evacuation, severe weather, and other emergency procedures.
• Participating in and evaluating school safety drills.
• Providing security during school events and activities when necessary.
• Assisting with traffic and student arrival or dismissal safety.
• Providing classroom presentations and educational programs involving law enforcement, personal safety, drugs, alcohol, impaired driving, online safety, and other topics.
• Serving as a resource for students who need guidance or assistance.
• Recognizing and reporting circumstances involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or students who may be in crisis.
• Coordinating with deputies, local police departments, fire departments, emergency medical services, juvenile authorities, mental health professionals, and other agencies when necessary.
• Maintaining familiarity with school buildings, access points, camera systems, emergency equipment, and response routes.
• Assisting responding law enforcement officers during critical incidents by providing knowledge of the school, its layout, personnel, and emergency procedures.

Training and Preparedness

School Resource Officers receive law enforcement training along with additional training focused on the unique responsibilities associated with working in a school environment.

Training may include:

• School-based law enforcement practices
• Active threat and intruder response
• Emergency and critical incident response
• School safety and security assessments
• Threat assessment and threat recognition
• Crisis intervention and de-escalation
• Juvenile law and procedures
• Student interviews and investigations
• Child abuse and neglect recognition
• Mental health and behavioral crisis response
• Emergency operations and incident command
• Building searches and tactical response
• Communication with students and school personnel
• Emergency medical response
• Legal issues involving students and schools
• Cyber safety and technology-related offenses
• Drug and alcohol recognition and prevention
• Conflict resolution
• School evacuation, lockdown, and reunification procedures

Building Relationships

One of the most important responsibilities of a School Resource Officer is developing trust with students.

Daily interaction allows SROs to become familiar faces rather than officers students encounter only during an emergency or criminal investigation. These relationships can encourage students to report safety concerns, suspicious behavior, threats, bullying, potential violence, or situations involving students who may need assistance.

The goal is to create an environment where students are comfortable approaching their School Resource Officer with a concern before that concern becomes a larger problem.

Commitment to School Safety

The Lewis County Sheriff's Office recognizes that protecting our schools requires cooperation between law enforcement, educators, students, parents, emergency responders, and the community.

Our School Resource Officers work every day to help provide students and staff with a safe environment where education can remain the primary focus. Through preparedness, prevention, education, enforcement, and positive relationships, Deputy Jason Slater and Sergeant Devon Willis serve as important members of their respective school communities.