The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has assigned three deputies to mobile patrols that will primarily focus on safety at the county’s 20 elementary schools. The move is part of a continued effort to enhance security within the Hall County School District and comes just days after the Gainesville City School System announced it has hired armed guards for all of its elementary and secondary schools.
Currently, each middle and high school in the district is staffed daily by a School Resource Officer (SRO) who is a sworn deputy with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. The SROs share time with the county elementary schools, but they are not on elementary campuses on a full-time basis.
“The new roving SROs will conduct routine patrols of our elementary schools,” says Sheriff Gerald Couch. “The duties of these deputies include, but are not limited to, exterior door checks at each school and the investigation of incidents that occur at the schools under their watch.”
The agency plans to hire one more roving SRO as soon as possible. That will allow two SROs to have a regular presence at elementary schools on the north and east sides of the county and two to patrol elementary schools on the south and west side of the county.
“Over and above patrolling the schools, we want these deputies to build a rapport and be a role model for the students,” Couch says. “Having an SRO in each middle and high school has given students and parents, as well as teachers, a trusted law enforcement presence in their schools. That’s what we want for our elementary schools, too.”
Deputy Jon Hughes, Deputy Nicholas Jackson and Deputy Miranda Joubert began their work as mobile SROs earlier this month. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office has 19 sworn officers currently assigned to the School Resource Unit.
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