Wearing multiple hats
Sheriff’s deputy takes on various responsibilities in his role as a School Resource Officer
As students enter any of the Santa Clarita Valley’s 14 junior high schools and high schools, they may be greeted by one of the valley’s six School Resource Officers.
The deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station are assigned to oversee specific high schools and middle schools and act as liaisons for elementary schools throughout the valley.
But these deputies offer more than just physical protection on campus; they also form authentic relationships with students as they act
as mentors, counselors, disciplinarians and interventionists.
Each day for the School Resource Officers is different. They answer administrative calls, search for lost backpacks and property, intervene in school drama and respond to disruptions on campus.
However, the key goal for all six deputies— who have been in their roles from one week to 10 years—is to positively influence and impact the lives of the students they work with one a daily basis.
Here is a look at the first of the six School Resource Deputies that work in schools throughout the Santa Clarita Valley.
Deputy Toby Coe
In March 2016, Deputy Toby Coe assumed his position as School Resource Officer after working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 12 years and at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station for nine years.
“It’s actually fun working with the kids and trying to change their perspective of us,” Coe said of his work with students at West Ranch High School, Rancho Pico Junior High School and Castaic Middle School.
Originally Coe did not want to be a school deputy, but he did want to work with kids and try to positively influence them by being honest with them and treating them like human beings and not as juveniles.
“I know these kids and can try to keep them out of trouble, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” he said.
Every day is different for Coe who splits his time between the three schools throughout the week, especially during brunch and lunch hours.
“This morning I was in meetings with students and parents,” he said. “I still have to make calls to parents regarding incidents that happened during the last week and a half.”
As a resource officer, Coe also oversees football games, basketball games and school dances.
“It’s different, you can see how rowdy they can get,” he said. “As long as they’re behaving then it’s kind of just letting them be.”
In the future, Coe plans to move to the Detective Bureau and possibly pursue a future in the Special Victims Unit.
“I know there’s a test coming up for the Detective Bureau so I’d like to go that route too,” he said.