Lexington Two school district just wrapped up its first week-long training for school resource officers. The training was free and offered to SROs across the state while being led by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

“[Lexington Two] wanted to bring free training to officers,” Santana Sanguiliano, director of security and risk at Lexington Two, said.    

“Sometimes it’s hard for SROs to get out of school for training.”

Sanguiliano also mentioned the district wanted to have a free training where officers could all receive the training in one place. The free price tag also made it budget friendly, she said.

Administration from Lexington Two was also invited to attend and she said they dropped in throughout the week. Sanguiliano mentioned they wanted administration and officers to see the opposite side and get opinions from both sides.

There were 30 officers that came with a majority being local. There were some that traveled from Tega Cay and Aiken.

One of the topics covered was bomb hoaxes which she pointed out was a real issue. This past school year was evident to this. She mentioned the SLED team spoke about the best practices to use should a bomb threat occur.

Other topics included human trafficking, crises intervention and behavioral threat assessments which SROs are an “imperative part of the team” when it comes to that, Sanguiliano said.

Crises intervention specifically with students with disabilities was discussed so officers know how to best handle students with any sort of disability.

On Thursday and Friday, training was hands-on for officers who did tactical training on site at a school in Lexington Two.

“I do know that trafficking was eye opening,” Sanguiliano said, as officers heard the actual statistics. “It’s a way money is made and it happens over and over. What was eye opening was how quickly any student can become a victim of trafficking and can go day to day and no one would know anything.”

She mentioned tips were offered on how to notice it along with what to ask and resources for the officers and students.     Sanguilliano said the district is hoping to build on this training for next year.