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When Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek schools open Tuesday for the 2022-23 school year, a school resource officer will greet students in the hallways.
Rock County deputy Jeff Stratton was hired for the new position that will serve as a liaison between law enforcement and schools.
“I will literally have contact with every kid in the entire county and do whatever I can to help them,” Stratton said.
“It is something new, never been done here and gives me an opportunity to build a program from the bottom up.”
For the past week, Stratton has addressed school staff in Luverne and H-BC about his duties in the districts, which will sometimes include attending evening sporting events.
His main job, however, is to be the liaison between the Sheriff’s Office and the school districts. Part of his job includes checking Sheriff’s Office daily incident logs for incidents involving students.
“The biggest thing is making those connections,” he said.
During the school day, Stratton will wear a “soft uniform” — a polo shirt and dress pants. He’ll be armed, but will only carry handcuffs and a radio. Stratton will wear his full uniform at events.
What will an SRO do?
Sheriff Evan Verbrugge outlined more of Stratton’s duties in the school districts at a liaison meeting between the Luverne School Board and county officials Thursday before the regular school board meeting.
“This is an opportunity for our juveniles to see an officer in the best possible light and, if they have an issue, they will have easy contact with us,” Verbrugge said.
In addition to fostering positive relationships with students and staff, Stratton will also develop programs like bike safety, school patrol, DARE (drug abuse resistance education) and ALICE (an intruder safety program).
He’ll work with administrators on truancy and will investigate criminal complaints regarding juveniles.
“He will assist school admin with enforcement, but will not be the school disciplinarian,” Verbrugge said.
Stratton will be first on the scene of an intruder incident while other law enforcement officers are called for assistance.
“Hopefully we won’t have a bad situation,” Stratton said. “That’s why we have this position — be as prepared as possible.”
SRO program
is jointly funded
The $100,000 school resource officer budget is funded through a city, county and school agreement.
The city of Luverne agreed to fund a third of the program along with the county. The two schools’ costs are prorated as four days in Luverne and one day a week in H-BC.
Stratton, who joined the Rock County office in January 2020, was the sole applicant for the position. “I’ve done a lot in my career already,” he said. “This is something else I can do to further my career.”
Stratton grew up in Luverne and graduated from LHS in 1998. He worked with his uncles at Cor-Tech Manufacturing until 2003 when he went back to school for a law enforcement career.
“I was literally walking through the shop one day and heard on the radio that Minnesota West was offering a law enforcement class for the first time,” Stratton said.
He and Sgt. Daryl Fuerstenberg were in the first graduating class.
Stratton worked near the Twin Cities for more than 15 years before he and his wife, Amy (an Adrian native), moved back to Rock County. They have three grown daughters.
“Family was the biggest catalyst,” he said. “When you have a bad day, there is always that personal connection.”
Stratton served on the Luverne School Board, a position he resigned in late July when he was hired as school resource officer.
“I truly do like kids and I like helping, that’s why I was on the school board — to make Luverne Schools a little bit better,” he said. “This opportunity opens it up a little more because I am working in both schools.”