Roanoke County – Roanoke County students return to school Monday and there's a new plan in place for security while they're in class.
Alex Wertz is patrolling the halls of Roanoke County schools. He's one of two deputies, assigned to 16 elementary schools.
"This is something I've always wanted to do," said Alex Wertz, a Roanoke County sheriff's deputy. "We are going to be there for law-enforcement purposes only but I also want to be there to be a role model for the kids."
The goal is to get to every elementary school every day.
"When we are at the schools we are going to do security checks, we are going to make sure doors are locked, we are going to make sure the building is safe and secure," said Wertz.
The middle and high schools are covered by the Roanoke County Police Department.
This arrangement's been going on the past two years but new this year is a formal agreement laying out responsibilities for school principals, resource officers and deputies.
Roanoke County Sheriff Lt. Colonel Stephen Turner says that's important.
"A school sometimes would call a deputy that's at another school instead of calling 911 for a serious incident," said Turner.
"It's very easy for us to all understand where our lanes are and we don't have to worry about crossing into each other's paths," said Sgt. Raymond Torres, Roanoke County Police Department.
Torres says when a student brought a gun to Cave Spring Middle School in February, another student alerted the school resource officer.
"Immediate action was taken and they got that school safe very quickly," said Torres.
Having an officer on campus makes people feel safe but there's another bonus too.
"It gives them an opportunity to get them into the schools, get them seen by the little kids and build that rapport," said Turner.
"We're actually somebody they need to look to for help," said Wertz.
Another new thing this year are two posters around Roanoke County schools encouraging students if they see or hear something to say something and that school safety starts with them.