As a school resource officer at Anderson High School, Jerry Simmons wears an Anderson Police Department uniform, but he also wears a number of other hats.
Simmons and his colleague, Dave Reed, have each worked at the high school for more than 20 years. In addition to the traditional responsibilities of on-site police officers, the two also act as informal counselors, often providing advice that students might not seek from their teachers or coaches — or even their own parents.
“A lot of students, I can relate to some of the issues that they’re dealing with,” Simmons said as he walked the main hall of the high school just before the final bell recently. “A lot of students here, I feel like they open up themselves to me and tell me a lot of their problems, and I try to solve them the best I can.”
The conversations Simmons and Reed have with many students can point them to issues that could potentially affect overall security at the school, both during and after school hours.
“They’re local officers, so they get to know our students, our students get to know them,” ACS Superintendent Joe Cronk said. “They know what’s going on out on the street, and they can bring that into the school. They know what to look for.”
ACS employs off-duty police officers at each of its 12 buildings through a long-standing relationship with the Anderson Police Department. Even though several districts of comparable size and demographics are forming their own police departments, no serious discussions about doing so at ACS have taken place, Cronk said.
“It just is not cost-effective,” Cronk said, “and even if money were no object, I would rather put the money toward education and support of students and their education than trying to put it toward a police force which would just be a security service and not connected with the community in general.”
Additionally, officials said, the ACS-APD partnership carries benefits for both parties.
“We certainly encourage our officers to participate because the city as a whole and the police department also benefit from having the officers in the schools,” said APD Chief Mike Lee. “The officers, honestly, the majority of them enjoy their time around the students and enjoy being in the schools.”
Reed and Simmons have become fixtures at the high school, with Reed having served in his role for 29 years, and Simmons for 24. Their longevity, Simmons said, has allowed them to get to know families across multiple generations.
“I know a lot of these kids’ parents,” Simmons said. “Even with things that might fall outside the law, if they can come in and have a counseling session with me, the student and the parent, I’m willing to do that as well.
“There are different variations of things that can take place,” he added, “but at the end of the day, we’re all here for the kids.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.