Officer Shea Talley is the new SRO at Parkway South High.

Not many know him but he soon hopes to become a big part of the South community. Now, you’re probably wondering what exactly an SRO does. SRO stands for Security Resource Officer and they take care of helping out students, setting up security for all sports games, letting security staff know if there are any emergencies at the school, and much more.

“The biggest impact I want to make is breaking the barrier between police officers and civilians. That we’re not bad people, we just have a job to do,” Officer Talley said. 

Before Officer Talley was here at South, he was a street cop and worked in North St. Louis City, then transferred to Manchester. He has been in the military for 12 years now, been married for 7 years, and has a 2-year-old daughter at home. He likes to hunt, golf, and loves talking to people. 

Assistant Principal Jenn Sebold said she is happy to have Officer Talley at South High.

“I really think he has this calm presence in demeanor which I appreciate because he doesn’t escalate things in situations. I feel like he’s very helpful and I trust him. I think that once the kids get to know him more, they will too and I just really like his demeanor; it’s just very different,” Sebold.

Junior Melania Alekseev said she thinks Talley is relatable. 

“I like Officer Talley more because he is younger, which might help him understand us kids more. He is really kind and caring and he makes me feel really secure, “says Alekseev.

Alekseev also said she wishes South had more officers in the building.

“I think we need more officers because of recent events. Like I think we should have more because we have had threats which put the safety of our school at risk. We also have a lot of fights and the teachers legit get hurt,” said Alekseev.

Sebold shared a personal experience in which she needed Officer Talley and he helped her. 

“I personally feel safer with an officer at our school because one example is when it was late, like 11 p.m.  after a football game and there was a situation that occurred where there was a “threat” I would say, and he told me ‘go in the school don’t come out till I tell you when it’s safe’ and I was like ‘oh my gosh’ and I really, really appreciated someone who is there who could protect me,” Sebold said.