Officer Burch, South Lakes High School’s School Resource officer (SRO), ensures the safety and well-being of all the students in the building.
Before becoming an SRO, Officer Burch worked as a patrol officer for the Fairfax County Police Department for 15 years. He then worked as an SRO at Herndon High School for a temporary assignment, which lasted 3 months, filling in for an officer who left. Officer Burch initially declined South Lake’s offer to become the school’s SRO, but accepted the position after receiving his second offer, in hopes of mentoring students.
In an interview with the South Lakes Sentinel, Officer Burch mentioned how his favorite part about being an SRO is “interacting with kids and getting to know you guys.”
SRO’s have specific training that enables them to better assist teachers and students, such as a 40 hour, week-long training program.
“Every year before school starts, we do an inservice for a recertification,” Burch said.
In that recertification, officers talk about law changes and how they interact with the school.
The training program also reminds student resource officers about how to interact with students, and how to respond to incidents they may encounter in the building; including drugs, alcohol, and social media.
[The training that we receive] helps us mentor you all and keep you guys on a good path,” Officer Burch said.
Officer Burch’s goal is to always be available to help and support students, whilst combating the stigma of police officers being unapproachable.
“I don’t want you guys to be afraid of me, and I want you guys to know you can talk to me any time about anything. If I can’t help you, I’ll get you in the right direction.”
Police officers often seem intimidating to students in many different ways. This makes it extremely difficult for genuine Officers, such as Officer Burch, to build connections with students.
Officer Burch has his own tactics on combating this despite many obstacles within today’s society.
“I am an SRO, but I am also a police officer. I worked the street here in Reston.
I have to fight against that and break those barriers down by using little ways to pull you guys in and say hello, through getting donuts or having candy available for students, Officer Burch said. “We’re not here to slap you guys in handcuffs and throw you in jail; we’re here to mentor you guys and get to know you on a personal level.”
With Officer Burch’s experience, he has earned an honorable award. It is formally known as the Tactical De Escalation Award. In order to receive the award, Mr. Burch’s supervisor submitted a nomination to a committee who selected to grant it to him.
Officer Burch was surprised and thrilled when he received the award. “It felt great,” Burch said. “I don’t do my job to get rewards; I do it to help people, and I wasn’t expecting anything out of it, but it was nice for that recognition.”
