Helena Public Schools school resource officers want to be someone students can talk to and be open with to help them succeed in school. The Helena Police Department and Lewis and Clark County Sheriff 's Office take pride in their roles in schools not to enforce laws, but to be a welcoming presence. HPD has four resource officers and the sheriff 's office has three within the school district stretched across its middle and high schools.
The sheriff 's School Resource Officers (SROs) float throughout the county to schools as needed, while all SROs work collaboratively during the school year. Helena police Cpl. Mark Baker was assigned to Capital High School.
He had spent one and a half years as an SRO then left, but came back because he had plans to make connections with students and their lives. He said he left due to a promotion and was put back on the street to serve the community. "When I was an SRO it had an impact on me," he said.
One of his goals that was "cut short" due to the promotion was to make sure students knew he was there to help. "Relationship building is paramount and we are somebody you can come to," Baker said. Growing up in Big Fork, he said he did not know what he wanted to do, but he spoke with an SRO at his school about the law enforcement field and figured it would give him a sense of fulfillment.
Baker has spent 17 years with the HPD and said he wants to be an outlet for students and for them to know "my door is always open because this is a communicati.