Sheriff cars put to good use

Ripley County Sheriff Jeff Cumberworth, JCD School Resource Officer Dan Goris, Milan Resource Officer Noel Houze, and South Ripley Resource Officer Eddie Rodriguez. They chose the Busching Bridge as the backdrop for their photo, which shows the three cars they collectively have purchased for just $3.00.

Don’t be confused by seeing former Sheriff cars at your local school. It’s true –it’s a sheriff’s vehicle now owned by the individual school and driven by the School Resource Officer.

When Dan Goris retired from his career at the Indiana State Police, he wasn’t quite finished with law enforcement. He just traded hats and became a Jac-Cen-Del Eagle School Resource Officer. He saw a need for a vehicle and went to Sheriff Jeff Cumberworth to check about the possibility of purchasing one of their old patrol cars when it was getting ready to be replaced. With the approval of the Commissioners, Sheriff Cumberworth agreed to sell JCD a car for $1.00. Some graphics were added to the vehicle that says, “School Resource Officer”.

At that time, Milan School Corp. was using an old sheriff’s unmarked SUV purchased for $1.00 from Dearborn County in 2015.

When the Town of Versailles decided to discontinue providing an officer to serve as School Resource Officer for South Ripley School Corporation, the school hired a full-time SRO to be employed by the school corporation. Eddie Rodriguez was hired and made a special deputy through the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department. At the beginning of this school year, a car for $1.00 was purchased by the school, again from the Sheriff’s Office.

Now Milan has joined the other schools and has purchased a car for $1.00 from the Sheriff’s Office. All three cars continue to have sheriff’s markings on them, but additional graphics have been added to show they are being operated by School Resource Officers.

“The SRO cars have been very helpful to the schools. The cars are used to check on students who should be at school in addition to helping to transport students who have missed the bus,” noted Goris, who has left his position at JCD and is now with Milan Schools with the retirement of Noel Houze. He went on to say, “Often the SRO will take a school administrator to a home if the administrator needs to talk to the parents. The cars are also used to help with school traffic and allows the SROs to have the cars for after school events such as sporting events and dances.”

“The presence of the Sheriff’s car at the school lets all know that a police officer is working in the schools,” concluded Goris.