Cherry Hills Christian School is implementing more security practices for their student’s protection this school year by including their first School Resource Officer, Deputy Dan Coyle. 

Deputy Coyle has been with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office since 2007 and has spent most of his career as a school resource officer, previously at Valor Christian High School and is also one of the Explorer Post Advisors. 

With over 800 students from preschool to 8th grade, Cherry Hills Christian is a large school. 

In addition to the school’s security officer, the school wanted to include a school resource officer knowing that they could bring extra security, mentorship and education to students and staff. 

“The staff at this school is wonderful and have welcomed me with open arms,” said Coyle. “I could not be any happier than to be a member of their CHS Lions School Community.” 

Kati Melton, the head of school at Cherry Hills Christian, said he is willing to jump in and do whatever is needed. 

“We have a multi-layered approach to safety and security,” said Melton. “And this is just one more added layer to that.”

By having a school resource officer, Melton said they are partnering with the sheriff’s office to ensure quick responses, help with threat assessments and stay proactive. 

Deputy Coyle also serves as a resource for parents. They will be starting a program called Lions Watch where they will invite family members to the campus and Coyle will be able to train them on the school’s standard response protocols. 

“We’re so grateful to have Deputy Dan on our team,” said Melton. 

More about school resource officers

All of the school resource officers are members of the National Association of School Resource Officers and Colorado Association of School Resource Officers. 

Lt. Robert Rotherham, who supervises the sheriff’s offices’ school resource officers and Juvenile Unit, said this school year, there are 23 school resource officer practitioners, who are the trainers and mentors for the sheriff’s office due to their knowledge and experience. 

Among differing topics, all resource officers are certified to teach the Y.E.S.S. Program in their schools. 

The Y.E.S.S. program, which stands for Youth Education and Safety in Schools, is a collaborative effort between schools and law enforcement to educate students on digital safety, relationships and substance abuse. 

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has implemented a Youth Crisis Response Team for the schools, which pairs a deputy with a clinician to respond to welfare checks, mental health calls, non-criminal substance abuse calls and suicidal subjects in all schools.

The School Resource Officer Unit in Douglas County maintains several proficient field training officers who train any new resource officers. 

“They work in partnership with the school district administration completing threat assessments and developing safety plans for students in their schools,” said Rotherham. 

The resource officers also work with school security and staff to conduct bi-annual SRP lockdown drills in the schools utilizing the “I Love You Guys Foundation” model and include the school's security personnel in annual active shooter training with the officers. 

This past school year, the resource officers handled over 2.000 calls for service in the schools, said Rotherman.