Some student issues at school, both criminal and personal, can get out of hand. For most of those issues, someone in power is needed to resolve them permanently. An SRO or School Resource Officer, is usally there to resolve student problems. Central is happy to welcome its new SRO, Mr. Paul Soyster.

When becoming a School Resource Officer, there is a certain pull-factor that persuades an officer to do so.

“Working in a school interests me very much because when I started law enforcement in 2007, I was responding to the same types of calls with the same types of people and they all had similar problems. I didn’t really have a way to impact them. I went to UTC, and in my eight and a half years of working there, I learned that it’s a lot easier to resolve problems when you can get to know who you’re dealing with. I really got time to connect to who I was working with, and I could invest in their lives and situation. I really felt like I was fixing their problems instead of just putting a band-aid over the wound,” responded Deputy Soyster.

When switching to any new environment, it’s important to make sure it’s easy to adapt. Whether that means working well with the students or getting along with staff, being comfortable in a place of work makes the day flow well and increases productivity.

“I can adapt to any age group. Coming from a college environment, being at Central High instead of a middle school is a much more comfortable situation for me. Other than learning how to use the technology, I’ve been doing pretty well here. I’ve already been out to participate in and help with student activities,” replied Soyster.

Soyster goes around to classes to gives speeches and presentations on important school issues such as bullying.

“He’s cool and he seems like he’s very nice. He gave a great presentation to my class,” stated freshman, Elizabeth Irving.

During the summer time, Deputy Paul Soyster works responding to calls in the Harrison area. Stop by his office inside of the College Access Suite and give him a warm Central Pounder welcome!