Atlanta Public Schools holds hiring event for elementary school security officers

ATLANTA — Kicking off the weekend with supporting students in mind, Atlanta Public Schools is holding a hiring event for school resource officers.

According to an APS spokesman, the event is focused on hiring officers for the district’s elementary schools.

Speaking with Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes on Wednesday, APS staff said times are changing and school resource officers are needed now more than ever before.

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Ofc. Jessica Walton, the new school resource officer at Hope-Hill Elementary School, told Fernandes that being a resource officer is about more than just being an authority figure.

“You gotta be able to build those relationships with children but also respond to anything as a police officer,” Walton said.

The goal is to hire enough officers to have one at every school.

The hiring event itself begins at 8 a.m. at Lakewood Stadium on Claire Drive SW in Atlanta.

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