Officer Hamilton becomes new school resource officer

Officer Hamilton becomes new school resource officer

Jane Laurey

Staff Writer

 Officer Michael Hamilton became a new school resource officer (SRO) in Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) on Sept. 27. While it’s his first year as an SRO, Hamilton has four years of experience working for the Manhattan Beach Police Department. According to Hamilton, he is dedicated to the safety of MBUSD students.

“My biggest thing is to give respect,” Hamilton said. “No matter who I’m stopping or who I’m talking to, everybody gets the same respect from me.”

Hamilton attended the Orange County Sheriff’s Academy for six months, where he experienced nearly 30 learning domains such as laws of arrest, traffic laws, and amendments. Hamilton later completed six months of field training with five different field training officers (FTOs) for a month each. In his last month, he went back with his first FTO for the “ghost phase” of training, in which Hamilton had to complete his assignments by himself while his first FTO supervised him. 

“My favorite part of the job is making sure that people who are committing these crimes are actually getting in trouble and facing jail time,” Hamilton said. “It is satisfying helping victims.”

When he is not working as an SRO, he works 12 and a half-hour shifts on patrol. His mornings start with a briefing on crime reports and crime hot spots. Then he gets assigned one of four areas, or beats, and he answers all calls in that area. In between answering calls, he has to write reports.

“Patrol is more based and [dictated on] calls for service,” Hamilton said. “Patrols are responsible for all calls that come in, no matter how small or how big.”

As MBUSD’s new SRO, Hamilton mostly focuses on the well-being of students. According to Hamilton, he wants to remind students to stay vigilant and be aware of their surroundings. He also urges students to understand the repercussions of drugs, drinking, and other dangerous activities. 

“Something  I’d like to relay to [the students] is be strong enough to say no, keep safety [as] your number-one priority, and be aware of your surroundings.” Hamilton said. 

For students, Hamilton stresses the importance of knowing proper police etiquette, such as what to do when pulled over. He says the first thing to do is to take the keys out, turn the car off, and put the keys on the dashboard. To avoid appearing suspicious, people should keep their hands where the officers can see them at all times.

“[I want to help] people understand that we’re here to help, that we’re not the enemies,” Hamilton said. “Just kind of helping people see our perspective.”