CLEMSON, S.C. — A year ago, Officer Caitlyn Bailey spent most of her Clemson Police Department shifts in a patrol car, working traffic and answering calls. Now she spends them on foot at Clemson Elementary.
Bailey became the school resource officer at the elementary school after the reassignment, and she has said she knew little about the role before she took it. She walks so much more than she did on patrol that she needed new shoes.
Part of her day is security. Bailey said she circles the building and checks doors, and that she wants parents to know she is on campus every day their children are.
Teachers and staff did not know her when she arrived, but she said they now talk every morning. Students move through the halls in quiet lines, which she said can make it hard to tell whether they are ignoring her, though recess and the front of the school bring hugs and high fives.
South Carolina also helps pay for officers in schools. The state’s public safety department hands out money so police agencies can hire certified officers to serve as school resource officers in districts that otherwise would lack the resources to hire their own, through its highway safety and justice programs office.
Section: More Clemson SC crime news
Filed under: Clemson SC Crime News
