Kimball Police Department prepares for arrival of School Resource Officer

Kimball Public Schools will be getting a School Resource Officer in time for second semester of classes.

According to Kimball Police Chief Darren Huff, Ryan Smith, who currently serves as a deputy for the Boon County Sheriff's Office, has taken the position and will be reporting for duty in Kimball on December 30, 2013.

Smith comes with training and experience that will serve him well in the specific duties and capacity of the School Resource Officer (SRO) position.

"We narrowed our search down to one individual who has a certified teaching certificate from the state of Nebraska so he's done some teaching. He's also obviously a fully certified officer," Huff said.

According to Huff, out of the applicants there were considered for the role, Smith immediately stood out, exhibiting both the characteristics and skill set in order to make the position and placement of the SRO in the schools successful and worthwhile for all parties involved.

"Hands down. He was the best. There was no competition," Huff said.

Currently, Smith is deployed with the navy in Tennessee which will conclude on December 1. However, he will have some work to finish up in Boon County before he is able to make his way to Kimball to officially start the position, according to Huff.

"He'll come back and get the ends with his last employer all taken care of, his notice and what he needs to do. And then he'll come and be here Monday, December 30," Huff said.

As the SRO for Kimball Public Schools, Smith's duties will revolve around taking care of all law enforcement related activities at the school ranging from threat assessment to organizing DUI and drug prevention courses for the students in the classroom.

Smith will also be working closely with implementing Project Fun which involves the Giga Bite character recently acquired by the Kimball Police Department.

Project Fun, which is the brainchild of Huff, will start to be implemented in December. However, according to Huff, the Giga Bite character's first public appearance will be at this year's 'Shop with a Cop' program.

According to Huff, the Giga Bite costume purchased for the character will arrive at the end of November. The department has already received training material for any actor that will portray the character in front of local children and have already started holding auditions for actors to take on the role.

"We've already had a tryout at the high school for people wanting to be involved and assume this character's identity and bring him to life so to speak. We're going to be very diligent in making sure that we're going to continue to personify what that character should be and that is someone who is a productive member of society who promotes good behavior, and the actor will definitely have to be able to emanate that into that end. It's pretty exciting," Huff said.

Though the Giga Bite character has come at a high cost, rounding out at approximately $10,000, Huff has high hopes for both the quality of the mascot, whose design and quality will be that of NFL and and NBA mascots, but also the positive influence that the character can have on local children working in tandem with the SRO.

"Our idea with getting him out there and getting him known is not only interacting with kids at the school but going to any event that would bring a crowd to Kimball that we could help by having children have something to look forward to and that being Giga Bite," Huff said.