School Resource Officers are tasked with protecting and serving our schools.
One in DeKalb County is accused of falling way short.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested and charged 32-year-old Jairo Castillo for sexual contact with a student Friday.
Parents and residents we spoke with are disgusted and shocked.
All are asking the same question – how could someone whose only job is to protect students apparently fail so miserably?
Representatives from the National Association of School Resource Officers say there’s simply no excuse.
The organization focuses on getting SRO’s the training they need.
Their executive director, Mo Canady, served as an SRO himself for more than 12 years.
He tells me bad apples like Castillo are rare, but make him sick.
“Anytime, quite frankly, that an adult does something like this in a school environment, or in a church environment with minors, it absolutely makes me cringe,” said Canady.
He says all SRO’s go through a basic 40-hour course to start.
There, they learn about how to best work with students and understand their mental health.
Most importantly, he says they are taught to advocate for and protect children, not abuse them.
“We’re entrusting them to protect any community’s most valuable asset, that being our youth,” said Canady.
He says a lot of the responsibility in the hiring process falls on law enforcement to pick the right people for the job.
“We need to make sure that we are carefully carefully carefully selecting the officers that we’ve assigned for these school-based positions,” said Canady.
Canady wants to ensure that law enforcement hires men and women of character and integrity by really digging deep into their backgrounds.
While a lot of people in DeKalb County are cringing over Castillo’s alleged actions.
Like anyone who is arrested, he is innocent until proven guilty in court.
We will be following this case…
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