OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Ottumwa police made an arrest Aug. 24 thanks to a tip from the middle school resource officer. KTVO talked to him Monday, Aug. 29 to see how he's an integral part of the school community.
Darren Batterson has been the Evans Middle School Resource Officer for the past 11 years. He's at the school in full police uniform everyday patrolling the halls and talking to students, hoping to build a relationship of trust. He also teaches 7th graders a class on gang resistance called GREAT. Administrators said his presence is invaluable.
"He might be coming down on a student one day and the next day the same students run up to him to either share information with him, to meet him, or talk to him and they get along with him very well," said Evans Middle School Assistant Principal Brad Jorgensen. "So he has a very positive impact on the students here at Evans."
Batterson said kids are informed during orientation and the first week of school that they can come to him if they are having problems at home. He said they often leave him anonymous notes that help solve cases around Ottumwa. But overall, he said the job requires a person who loves kids because the job involves interacting with hundreds of them on a daily basis.
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