The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Randolph County Sheriff’s Office deputies Rocky Hebb, left, and Ethan Carr tell the Randolph County Commission about the Prevention Resource Officers Program in Randolph County Schools. Hebb and Carr are two of the three PRO officers in the county.

ELKINS — Two of the three sheriff deputies serving as Prevention Resource Officers in the Randolph County school system gave an informational presentation to the Randolph County Commission.

Rocky Hebb and Ethan Carr came before Commissioners David Kesling and Cris Siler to provide an update on their activities since Carr was added as the third PRO officer in the county in January.

“We want to thank the county commission for the support it has given to this program in Randolph County,” said Hebb. “This program has been a huge success and it continues to be one.

“So far one of the best things that has happened this year is the addition of Deputy Carr. He was a great choice for this program and he is doing a great job at Elkins High School. He has been there one month and has already made a huge impact and everybody loves him.” 

Hebb, who is the PRO regional liaison for Tucker, Upshur, Barbour and Randolph counties, has been stationed at Tygarts Valley High School since the program began in 2021. Deputy Daniel Pennington has been at Elkins Middle School since last year.

“One of the big things that we’ve done in 2022 and we will continue to do in 2023 is the active shooter classes,” said Hebb. “We were able to conduct them in all 13 schools in Randolph County and all of them did a tremendous job in the training.”

Hebb said with the schools now knowing what to do if an unfortunate event takes place, officers have gone into some of the schools and conducted drills.

“We’ve been in several schools for the code red drills so far and they have done a great job,” he said. “We still have a few to get to for the drills, but the most important thing that we have is life. So we want to make sure the students and staff are safe to the best of our abilities. We want them to know that we are going to be there for them, God forbid, if anything ever takes place.”

Hebb said the PRO officers have also conducted hunter safety courses and taken part in driver’s ed classes to discuss the effects and laws of alcohol while driving, They have also conducted traffic stop classes at the Randolph County Technical Center, and been part of some of the forensic science and criminal justice classes at the school.

“We help teach some classes on social media issues and drugs,” Hebb said. “We want to be a positive influence on these kids, especially the secondary children. We try our very best to get into the grade schools, because the younger they are when we can really connect with them, the better results we are going to have when they get older.

“We want to build that relationship with them. So that anyone wearing any size or shape badge, or any patch, they will know that we are not the enemy — we are there for them.”

Even though the officers are stationed at particular locations, their jobs allow them to visit other schools in the county, including the grade schools where they visit frequently for educational purposes. Hebb said that he, the PRO officers, and his guitar will also continue to go into the grade schools and perform music for students.

Hebb told the Commission that some of the upcoming events planned are basketball games between Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies and middle school students from Elkins, Tygarts Valley and Harman.

“We had those basketball games last year and the kids are already talking about how they are going to beat us again this year,” said Hebb. “They are looking forward to it and we will throw out basketballs again with the sheriff’s office logo on them. We will also talk to the kids about safety and making good choices.”

Hebb said the program is also working on creating baseball cards with all of the Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies on them.

“We want all the kids to know the entire department, not just the PRO officers,” said Hebb. “I know that we are in the schools regularly and they see our faces more. But one of the things we are working on is making baseball cards with the whole department’s pictures on them and some statistics on the back, like hobbies, what rank a deputy is, and things like that. And then if the kids collect the whole department, then they get a big prize.”

The Randolph County Commission has partnered with the Randolph County Board of Education to make the PRO officer program a reality. Assistant Superintendent of Randolph County Schools Joseph Arbogast has worked alongside the officers to make sure the program has been a success.

“In my opinion, you can’t put a price on how valuable the PRO officers have been to our schools,” Arbogast said. “The security and the reassurance of safety to our staff and our schools in my opinion is immeasurable. We really don’t know what issues have been prevented just by their cruisers being outside.

“We’ve seen a decrease in disciplinary issues and their involvement with the kids is incredible. They are three of the best police officers I’ve ever been around and you cannot put a price on them. This program is one of the best things this county has ever done for our schools.”