Back To School Event Featuring Frederick County SRO’s Taking Place Next Week

It’s an opportunity to meet and talk with School Resource Officers.

Frederick, Md. (KM) – A back-to-school event is taking place next week sponsored by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and the Public School System. . Students, their parents, teachers and others  can came to Frederick High School,  650 Carroll Street, on Tuesday, August 9th from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM to meet with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office’s School Resource  Officers.

“Last year, in the Frederick County Public Schools, we saw 56 different school threats,  and some of those are  tied to social media threats like TikTok and things of that nature. And it really put our SRO’s out there for opportunities to meet students, teachers, parents and interact in a way different then we have before,” says Todd Wivell, spokesman for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

He says when students meet with their school’s SRO’s, talk with them and ask questions, they can see these law enforcement officers from a different perspective. “Sometimes the persona is that there’s deputies walking around the school and they’re armed and they have their handcuffs and their tasers, and that can be intimidating,” he says. “So what we’d like to do is make sure that these students from kindergarten all the way up to grade 12 know that they can meet these SRO’s and realize that they’re humans just like them, they have personalities, they have feelings and emotions and that they’re there to help them and protect them.”

The Sheriff’s Office says 16 sworn deputies  are assigned to the SRO program.

During the back to school event, the Sheriff’s Office will be handing age and grade appropriate school supplies for students from K through 12 on a first come, first serve basis. Personnel will also provide free cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones. There will also  be food trucks, and   instructions on the do’s and don’t’s for social media, says Wivell.

There will be a drawing each hour for a free Google Chromebook. The drawings will take place at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30. Only one winner per hour, and the same person cannot win twice.

“Really,  what we’re trying to do is get these deputies in the schools, interact more with the kids and just be  a mentor, someone they can go up to and talk to and rely on. And if they need help, they’re there for them,” says Wivell.

By Kevin McManus