What are school resource officers? The way Natashea Brown sees it, they are unicorns.
“We’re unique, and we deal with a lot of things,” Brown explained.
As chief of police for Columbus Municipal School District, Brown is part law enforcement officer, part mentor, part educator and now, part regional director for school-based law enforcement across five states with her recent appointment as Region 6 director for the National Association of School Resource Officers.
In the role, Brown will serve as a regional liaison for NASRO members across Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee while also providing support and helping coordinate training for SROs throughout the states.
The job, Brown said, is rooted in a community policing model, which focuses on building meaningful relationships with students rather than simply enforcing the rules.
“I like the work we do because it is community based,” Brown said. “We’re working with our kids, helping them to make good decisions, being a listening ear. All the things that educators do, we get a chance to do that as law enforcement officers, help build the future.
“… I enjoy that aspect, to be able to sow into the students,” she added. “And then I always say this, the students pour into us. We’re not just pouring into them.”
Brown, a Columbus native and graduate of West Lowndes High School, started her career in the Army before starting with Columbus Police Department in 2002, where she worked in both patrol and criminal investigations.
When she was first approached about becoming an SRO for CMSD in 2013, the job was entirely new to Brown.
“I had never been a school resource officer, and at that time, didn’t really know what the role of a school resource officer was,” she said. “So I’ve been in the schools since 2013, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever decided to make.”
After seven years as an SRO, Brown was promoted to chief, a position in which she oversees 14 staff members, including nine SROs and five school safety officers. It was a natural fit, she said.
“Leadership is in my blood,” she said. “My family (in) the way I was brought up. I was a supervisor in the military and got a chance to be lead in some areas there at the PD. I just feel that this is who I’m supposed to be.”
SROs, Brown said, are regular police officers working in schools, meaning they’re trained in the usual law enforcement protocols and duties, similarly to a patrol officer at a police department. But SROs are also trained specifically to work with students, including with crisis intervention and de-escalation tactics.
“The training is versatile, so it’s not just only from a law enforcement aspect, but we deal with social and emotional aspects,” she said. “We deal with the teen and the brain, how it develops and how it can influence their decision making.”
That often entails being what Brown calls an “informal counselor.”
“We are support,” she said. “So if there’s a child that may be having a hard day or something, that’s where that informal counseling and that mentoring comes in, so that we can help be an additional support to them.”
It’s a role that requires a lot of care, which is an attribute Brown brings to work every day, according to Superintendent Craig Chapman, who said the district is “extremely proud” of Brown’s recent appointment as the Region 6 director for NASRO.
“She’s a dedicated veteran police officer who cares deeply for our students and staff,” Chapman wrote Monday in an email to The Dispatch. “Chief Brown continues to ensure her officers have the training needed to create a safe learning environment that is so crucial for our students in the classroom.”
For Brown, some of the most impactful moments of the job are the ones that come well after a student has graduated.
“When I get … former students, they come up to me and say, ‘Hey, thank you so much for your patience,’” Brown said. “… That’s the beautiful thing, when I can see a student that maybe was struggling, and now they seem to have gotten themselves together, and they come back and say thank you. It’s just awesome.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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