Crime & Safety

School Resource Officers Go Back to School

In Annandale and throughout the county, police officers go through training to prepare for school year

Students and teachers aren't the only ones who prepare for the new school year. Every summer, Fairfax County Police Department School Resource Officers attended a week-long service class that serves as a refresher and update course for school laws and regulations.

"This gives [first year or new officers] a good overview of what the program is all about," said Traci Sontheimer, School Resource Officer for Holmes Middle School.

Every school in Fairfax County is assigned an SRO, who works closely with the principal of each school to ensure the school and its students are as safe as possible throughout the year.

Find out what's happening in Annandalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This year's class introduced SRO's to the Youthful Driver Programs in the high schools. The purpose of the program is to offer students under the age of 18 who have licenses an opportunity to get a little extra driver training.

The 40-hour SRO course also includes a review with the police department's tactical team, practice drills on how to clear a building, and lessons in the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. From the FERPA classes, SRO's are able to understand how the schools handles releasing records to outside sources.

Find out what's happening in Annandalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Another important aspect to the SRO preparation for the year is meeting with the school principals to go over incident plans and make necessary changes. Having a strong relationship with the principal is important, but Sontheimer explained that it's not always easy because of the different viewpoints.

"Sometimes we come from different mindsets of what's needed," said Sontheimer. "The principals are very much safety oriented, but they are also [focused on making] sure the kids are getting the education they need whereas we come more from the safety and security aspect, so we can help with that if they have questions."

During the day, Holmes Middle School students can find Sontheimer out in front of the building or in the hallways. "I help the kids get to their classrooms if they don't know where a particular class is because they're unfamiliar with the building, things along those lines," said Sontheimer.


Holmes Middle School Principal Robert Pamas says because Sontheimer has been with Holmes Middle School for an "extended period of time", the students are very comfortable around her. "They react to her extremely well," said Pamas. "Students see the same person returning year after year. That's extremely important for students of this age group. They like to see the same adult returning."

Pamas says the students feel "extremely safe" and trust Sontheimer just as they trust any of the school's administration. "She is someone they trust. That they can go to with issues they might have."They know that there are adults here beside their classroom teachers, counselors. Besides us, they can go to this uniform police officer. They have that trust for her just as they have for their administrators."

Two of the biggest concerns in the schools for SRO's are cyberbullying and sexting. While Sontheimer says she has not personally seen occurrences of this at Holmes Middle School, she says it is still important for the police department to keep all parents informed regardless of whether or not it's an issue yet.

"We want parents to know that if this stuff is happening, please let us know so we can stop the activity and to be aware that these are the things kids are doing," said Sontheimer. "Pay attention to your child's electronic devices. Know how they work so that you know if this stuff is going on. You can help stop it before it gets so far out of hand."

To find out who your child's School Resource Officer is and get in touch, please contact your school administrator.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.