Officer Enjoys Helping Kids
Dereck Price is a full-time deputy juvenile officer in McDonald County. He has been a juvenile officer with the 40th Circuit, which comprises Newton and McDonald County,
for eight years.
Dereck Price is a full-time deputy juvenile officer in McDonald County.
He has been a juvenile officer with the 40th Circuit, which comprises Newton and McDonald County, for eight years; but only since Jan. 1 has he been assigned to McDonald County full-time. His office is fully staffed between himself and chief deputy juvenile officer Candi Bowman.
Price will be working in the schools in McDonald County.
“Here in McDonald County, we just started with cooperation with the school, the prosecutor’s office, the county commission and the sheriff’s office, coming together to get a juvenile officer in the school,” he said. “Without the cooperation of all those entities coming together to make this happen, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Price said his job is to protect kids, and this has two facets. First, there are cases of abuse or neglect where he must step in. Also, there are instances of delinquency.
“If kids are committing crimes, we step in and find out why that’s happening to stop it from happening when they’re adults,” he said.
Price also has responsibilities like attending court and drug court — a year-long program designed to help young people get treatment for their substance abuse problems while staying in school.
While in the schools, Price will be providing education for the students and “trying to be a bridge between law enforcement and kids so they feel comfortable talking to the police,” he said.
“Our main goal is to have a relationship with these folks — kids and their parents,” he added.
In addition to providing education, he will be responding to issues that come up, being visible and available for the kids of McDonald County, he said.
Before coming to the juvenile office, Price was employed by Neosho Schools as a school resource officer. He shared a few stories about kids he has helped.
“Countless kids I’ve seen, we were able to get them out of a home situation where there was abuse and neglect and drugs and get them on the right path,” he said.
He said one young man had missed 45 days of school in the first semester. He got into drug court, got off substances, ended up graduating from high school and now is a productive member of the community. Another young man had been in trouble with law enforcement and had anger issues and trouble with drinking. Price put him on probation and developed a great relationship with him. The young man completed an online high school and now has a job, he said.
Asked what he likes about his job, Price said, “I like to help kids. I like to see a kid that might be on the wrong path get on the right path; and if I can have anything to do with that, it’s very rewarding. Getting to come to school means you get to be in contact with the good kids too, not just kids that are in trouble,” he added.