Deputy Sheriffs are assigned as School Resource Officers to each of the Catawba County Public School Systems High Schools and Middle Schools. This has been a very successful program in that the Officers have become friends to the students in addition to being a crime deterrent in the schools. The one on one relationship between students and officers allows for solving problems before they are beyond control.

DARE, the Drug Resistance Education Program, is just one of the classroom presentations made by the School Resource Officers. DARE is a combination of Officers, Classroom Educators, and Parents enabling kids to make informed, responsible decisions. Taught by the uniformed Officer in the classroom, DARE tries to teach kids that with the proper self-esteem they can effectively make good decisions that can help them resist the peer pressure they may face to experiment with drugs and or violence. All of the School Resource Officers are committed in being pro active in their efforts to teach students the dangers of drugs and the peer pressure that will be exerted upon them as they grow in their teenage years.

If you would like more information, or programs offered by the School Resource Officers, you may call 828-465-8337 or 828-464-5241.

Drug and Gang awareness classes are taught to middle school students by a school resource officer

The Officers are assigned as follows:
Bandys' High School	Officer Butch Cloninger
Bunker Hill High School	Officer Jamie Phares
Fred T Foard	Officer Justin Teague
Maiden High School	Officer Eric Page
St Stephens High School	Officer Dale Lail
Catawba Rosenwald School	Officer JD Slape
Arndt Middle School	Officer Amber Morris
Jacobs Fork Middle School	Officer Jody Grindstaff
Mill Creek Middle School	Officer Darrin Lackey
Riverbend Middle School	Officer Trent Davis
Maiden Middle School	Officer Tammy Johnson (2008 National School Resource Officer of the Year)
CVCC	Chris Mills, Bryon Hollar and Michael Shook