School resource officer builds rapport with students along with respect

Many people don’t know a law enforcement officer can dress as ‘The Grinch,’ ‘Cousin Eddie,’ or appear to be on a beach vacation in front of a school. But Elmore County High School school resource officer Robert Moncrief does and earns respect along the way.

Moncrief has roamed the halls of the nearly century old school on his days off as a deputy sheriff with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office since 2000. Just because he retired in November 2020 doesn’t mean he has gone away. In fact he is probably at the school more now.

“After 28 years with the sheriff’s office, I retired,” Moncrief said. “I took two weeks off and started up here. This is considered part time because I only work when the kids are here.”

But just because the SRO position is part time does not mean Moncrief works part time hours. According to guidance counselor Jerie Browning-Lewis, Moncrief likely puts in more hours than faculty and staff.

“It’s not uncommon for his day to start at 7 a.m. and end at 9 or 10 p.m.,” Lewis said.

Moncrief doesn’t spend those long days cracking a whip. Moncrief serves in just about every role at the school from directing traffic, answering phones calls and working with students earning respect along the way.

“Some SROs make an impact because they are the police present on campus,” Lewis said. “Make no mistake, our students are afraid of our SRO but he knows every single student on this campus by name. He has helped several unlock their cars, change flat tires.”

But Moncrief does more than just perform tasks, he helps teach skills to students they can use the rest of their lives.

“He set up this ‘For Real Friday’ and he was showing them what to do if they had a dead battery, and how to change a flat tire,” Lewis said. “We had more students sign up for his class than any other class. He showed them how to change tires and how to do all that stuff.”

Lewis said Moncrief can be found at football games, basketball games, selling concessions at games.

“He is at 95 percent of the games,” Lewis said. “He does whatever is needed anywhere in the school.”

Sometimes Moncrief appears out of uniform. It could be attending a game – on a rare day off – but most often when he is out of uniform on campus, he is engaging faculty, students and family through fun activities.

“High Schools are well known for dress up days,” Lewis said. “We dress up for homecoming; we dress up for Christmas.”

Lewis noted Moncrief’s efforts to participate in fun activities, especially during post COVID times, have made him as one of the most recognizable people on campus.

“Whenever we would have dressup days to help get the kids back to some sense of normalcy, he completed our office staff of ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’” Lewis said. “On island dress up day during homecoming week, he brought beach chairs and umbrellas and dressed up and greeted car riders.

“He was our ‘Grinch.’ We did Christmas Vacation dress up day and he was cousin Eddie with the faculty. He stood out there and greeted everyone to start school.”

Moncrief said students come up to him all the time, even when he is off running errands around town or stopping by a restaurant to eat.

“I wouldn’t be able to do an undercover operation,” Moncrief joked. “At least not around here.”

Lewis said Moncrief does far more than just have fun with students and staff.

“He contributes so much more than just being the cop around campus,” Lewis said. “He is such a positive influence on our campus. If a student has a problem and the principal isn’t available, they are like, ‘Can I go speak to Officer Moncrief?’ They feel that comfortable with him.”

It’s all part of what Moncrief wants the SRO position to be.

“I want to do the stuff because it gives me a chance to be with a small group of kids,” Moncrief said. “It may be someone who is scared to talk to law enforcement.”

Some students just drop in on Moncrief to get advice on life in general and possible career paths. 

“They come to me a lot,” Moncrief said. “Sometimes they just stop by to talk and ask about how to get into law enforcement. The ones who are going to the military they stop by because I was in the Air Force for 10 years. They just talk about different things.”

Lewis said a lot of what Moncrief does is not a requirement of Moncrief’s position but the students at Elmore County are better because of it.

“It’s not what you think of as a SRO but it is exactly what we need,” Lewis said. “He has been such a positive influence on our kids through everything.”