SRO … New School Resource Officer Stan Nihart poses with second graders. (PHOTO BY JAMES PRUITT)
(Story originally appeared October 3rd, 2018)
By: James Pruitt
After 30 years working for the Bryan Police Department Stan Nihart decided having his weekends, nights, and summers off was too appealing to pass up. That’s why after three decades with the department he chose to retire and become a school resource officer for Bryan City Schools.
He is one of three officers who walk the hallways of the elementary and high schools to get to know the kids and assist the staff.
“Actually I retired to take this job. Otherwise I would still be working for Bryan,” Nihart said. “I do enjoy kids. I have grandkids and kids of my own, nieces, nephews. It’s just to be able to talk to kids.
“If I can help one child in my time here then I have done my job.” Being a police officer has been something Nihart always wanted to do. He can remember his high school guidance counselor coming to him one day and asking him what he wanted to do.
“I said I wanted to be a police officer and he helped set the ball in motion,” Nihart said. The counselor helped get him into college. Following school, Nihart worked with the Sheriff Department for a year before he got hired by Bryan PD.
“I enjoyed working for Bryan; I enjoyed the people. I think I made a lot of good relationships with the public. I helped a lot of people. Some may not agree with that, but the majority would say I helped them out as much as I could. I just always tried to be fair with people.”
Nihart also worked with two different K-9 units over 12 years with the department. He started in 1993 and ended in 2004-05. He can remember when he and the dogs searched for missing people. He recalls locating two elderly men who had gotten lost. The men were scared and disoriented, so helping out in those situations is bright memory for Nihart.
The same goes for locating missing children and helping them get through the crisis. But in 30 years he never fired his weapon. He had to draw it several times, but he never had to use it. Nihart worked under five different police chiefs. Mike Willis was his last.
Now as an SRO his purpose is simple and straightforward: “We’re here for the kids. We’re also here for the staff, but our main priority is the kids.” The objective is for the kids to know the officers are approachable and to get the children to be comfortable with them.
“They are so full of information you have to get them to trust you,” Nihart said. “They will tell you anything. They don’t hide anything, especially the little ones. They want to tell you their stories.”
Taking the time to sit down with them can make a world of difference.
Youth are under so much pressure today whether its school, jobs, friends or other areas of their lives, having someone in authority take time to listen can make their day, Nihart said.
The SROs enjoy the full support of the school administrators and the Board of Education as well as about 90 percent of the community, Nihart said. Some people think the SROs are a waste of time or aren’t necessary.
“You will never know (the impact) because we are a deterrent,” Nihart said. “The big thing is if an incident happens, we are here now.” It takes the police 1-3 minutes to respond, and while a minute seems quick, when there’s an active shooter on campus, “sixty seconds is a lifetime.”
Having a presence on campus means the SROs can be feeding the police information right from the start. They can engage the situation and take care of it. The SROs can also be advisers of what the law says.
During a typical day, the SROs are part of the student drop off. They are seen in the morning by the students, but the children don’t where or when the SROs are going to show up.
After that the SROs do building and perimeter checks and often sit in classrooms.
Two of the SROs are employed by the school, while the third is employed by the city. After this year, every kid at school will have seen them. The goal is to be able to go into a classroom and not be a distraction.
The SROs will hang out in the cafeteria and talk to the students and sometimes have lunch with them. The cafeteria staff has commented they are often unaware of the SROs because they blend in so well.
“They (students) want you to have lunch with them,” Nihart said. “We’re fitting in pretty good around here.” The staff handles situations as they arise. The SROs are there if something potentially dangerous occurs, but they want to earn the trust of the kids, so if a student comes to them with news Nihart says he will tell students to tell the principal.
The SROs won’t relay anything to the staff. Nihart has no regrets about his new job, although it was tough leaving his police family. His family at home is very supportive of his decision.