Decatur school resource officer gets state honor

DECATUR — Bryon Flickinger, Decatur’s high school resource officer, was recognized during the Feb. 12 City Council meeting for being chosen as the “SRO of the Quarter” for the state.

Decatur Police Chief Steven Grizzle said he was contacted by Mitchell Regnas, Safe Schools project coordinator of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Arkansas System, to inform him that Flickinger was chosen for the award. Flickinger’s contributions to school safety and his outreach to the students in the Decatur School District were cited as reasons for receiving the honor.

“I’ve always been able to connect and relate to kids,” Flickinger said in a statement read by Grizzle.

Flickinger, who has been an officer for nine years, was chosen as Centerton’s “Elf on the Shelf” for the Christmas holiday, Grizzle told the council. For two weeks, he dressed as an elf and interacted “with the kids of the city,” which Flickinger claims kick-started his path to becoming a school resource officer.

Grizzle said Flickinger is an exemplary officer and he continually shows he’s thriving as a school resource officer.

“As chief of police in Decatur, I’ll tell you that being an SRO is a calling. It’s not something that any officer can do. I can’t just put any police officer in that position. It just would not work,” Grizzle said. “They have to be kind, caring, passionate, and at the same time, they have to be stern, gruff and portray a position of authority.”

“I’m extremely proud of him,” Superintendent Steven Watkins said. “He really cares about the kids. You can tell that he’s found his niche in law enforcement. The kids relate to him really well. … And he’s a valued member of our staff.”

Mayor Bob Tharp congratulated Flickinger and said he and the other officers in the Police Department are “representing the citizens of Decatur with the best quality for safety that we could ever have in our school system.”

Flickinger