IZARD SHERIFF’S DEPT. AND ICC PARTNERSHIP



Sheriff Tate Lawrence and Superintendent Fred Walker jointly announced a partnership arrangement of having a school resource deputy for the Izard County Consolidate School District. Sheriff Lawrence said that the School Resource Officer program is a nationally accepted program that places law enforcement officers with local schools. The program is designed to develop partnerships between local law enforcement and the school. This uniformed officer of the Izard County Sheriff’s Department will act as a deterrent to crime in school building, on the campus and the community surrounding the school not only through a uniformed presence, but also by developing positive relations with students , faculty, staff, and community members.

The officer will provide classroom instruction and other information concerning the law, personal rights/responsibilities, and other law enforcement related topics. The resource officer will be available to teachers as a guest speaker on a variety of topics to include constitutional law, police practices, drunk driving laws and their enforcement, motor vehicle laws, and a variety of other topics. The resource officer will also arrange for presentations by other law enforcement agencies and community organizations.

Sheriff Lawrence and Superintendent Walker said the program will be very proactive and preventative in nature and the presence of the officer on campus will provide a deterrence to unfavorable situations and a faster response to incidents requiring police involvement , and investigations. When incidents occur, the officer will also be better prepared to deal with the them based on his or her familiarity with the school community and its daily operations.

Brett Stevenson of Oxford, who holds a bachelors degree in criminology, is currently in training to assume the duties of Izard County Consolidate School Resource Deputy.
Operating out of the high school in Brockwell, Deputy Stevenson will also work on the Violet Hill campus as well as working nighttime school functions and sporting events.




News Release
For Immediate Release
February 5, 2010
POC: Sheriff Tate Lawrence
870 368 4203