‘It can be a great deterrent’: Gage County schools begin resource deputy program

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Gage County Sheriff’s Office is introducing a new school resource deputy who will cover three rural districts in the county.

Deputy Michael Hager will work in the Diller-Odel, Freeman and Southern school districts.

Hager said he’s excited about the new position, especially after participating in training with the National Association of School Resource Officers last year.

He said he feels prepared for anything that might happen.

“If somebody does see us here, they know ‘Ope, there’s law enforcement at the schools,'” Hager said. “Kind of makes it a harder target… it can be a great deterrent.”

Jeff Murphy, principal at Southern High School, said it’s great to have law enforcement looking out for the kids.

“I don’t think it’s to scare people or to catch you doing something wrong,” he said. “I think it’s here just to build those relationships and make sure everybody is safe.”

Hager is also striving to be a role model.

“The kids love it, they’ll come up and ask nine million questions, which is great,” Hager said. “A lot of times kids see law enforcement from a negative perspective, whether it’s television or maybe previous life experiences. And this is just an opportunity for us to get in and make a positive impact on the kids’ lives.”

Sheriff Millard Gustafson said he’s been working with the school districts and the county board for about a year to put the program together.

He said having one deputy cycle between multiple districts will be challenging, but he hopes the program will grow.

“It comes down to the funding,” Gustafson said. “It’d be good to have someone stationed longer period of time, but we’re gonna – baby steps. We’re trying to do that right now and we’ll see where it goes.”

Gustafson said there’s been a lot of enthusiasm for the program, and he hopes other counties will be inspired to start their own.