PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Public Schools’ Chief of Resource Officers, Demario Boone, has won a national award for school safety in K-12 schools from Campus Safety Magazine.
“I’ve been on the street before, I was a Peoria Police officer before I did this. And, it’s just a different type of job when you do this in the schools,” Boone said.
Boone said the award isn’t just his, it represents the hard work of all 27 resource officers he oversees at Peoria Public Schools.
He told WMBD’s Greg and Dan, relationships are 95% of a resource officer’s job, starting at the primary school level.
“If I see a kid with shoes that are untied, that’s like golden moment right there. I’ll walk up to them, bend down, start tying their shoes, because they’re not used to seeing an officer in that manner,” Boone said.
At the high school level, Boone said the officers gravitate to the kids “on the bubble”, those with a lot going on at home or on the streets.
Boone said it’s the department’s ongoing goal to make a difference in students’ lives.
Boone’s nomination for the award from Campus Safety Magaznine mentioned the PPS Gang Intervention Unit and the creation of an online tracking system of social-emotional learning for PPS students.
