Orange Beach, Ala. — (OBA) — The Orange Beach School Resource Officers (SROs) were among nearly 100 officers in Baldwin and Mobile Counties who took part in intensive training ahead of the 2025-26 school year.

As students sharpened their pencils, the SROs sharpened their skills by undergoing drills and listening to lectures on the latest life-saving medical techniques and tactical strategies.

"Our School Resource Officers are charged with protecting the most valued things in our lives," said Orange Beach Lt. Trent Johnson. "We believe this training is paramount to provide them not only with the necessary skill set to engage a threat, but also to put them through as many different, varied and realistic scenarios as possible, so that, God forbid, they ever have to use that skill set, they have already had the practice of running through the physical, mental and emotional processes they may experience in that moment and act with intent and purpose to stop anyone trying to harm our children."

Also see: Orange Beach Middle High School Wins 2024 Safe Schools Award 

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office hosted the training at Baldwin Preparatory Academy in Loxley. 

Baldwin County Sheriff Anthony Lowery said he is thankful for municipalities within the county that provide SROs. He said SROs are now a daily part of school operations.

"They keep things in control in and around the school itself – on the campus and obviously, they prevent any type of outside person from coming in and causing any harm to students or faculty or anyone for that matter," Lowery said. "It's a big deal to the parents to know when their kids go to school that there's someone there protecting them, keeping them safe and having not just a security guard, but school resource officers are so much more than a security guard. This day and age, they're trained in tactical medical, mental health and all those things."

During training, officers were presented with new case laws involving schools. Johnson said the training is an important way to ensure SROs are ready for the great responsibility.

"We are grateful for what they do each and every day and want them to be as prepared as humanly possible," Johnson said.

The SROs are both nationally certified with NASRO (National Association of School Resource Officers) and state certified with TAASRO (The Alabama Association of School Resource Officers).