Officer Dennis Randall has been the student resource officer at Blue Valley for 14 years. Randall is retiring after 42 years of service as a police officer.

SRO’s are responsible for a multitude of tasks around the school.

“Directing traffic takes up most of my day, interacting with the kids throughout the day and walking through the hallway,” Randall said. “The thing that makes it good as an SRO is when I can reach out and touch a young life to help them out. It makes me happy when I can help somebody.”

However, Randall is more than just an SRO.

“I was a Missouri State Water Patrol Officer for 25 years,” he said. “Prior to that I was a police officer in a small town in southwest Missouri. After I got out of the army in ‘75, I got a job on the east side of St. Louis as a police officer.”

Randall said his most rewarding experience as a water patrol officer was catching a murderer in 1990 and having the opportunity to prosecute the criminal so that he spent the rest of his life in prison.

“That was sad — but rewarding — because of the chance for the family to have closure,” Randall said.

A&E reacted this story for an episode of Cold Case Files a few years later.

Trevor Burgess, who started working at BV last year, will take Randall’s place once Randall retires.

“[Officer Burgess is] a great guy,” Randall said. “The kids should embrace him. They can come talk to him anytime. Officer [Ken] Braden taught me, and he was probably the best SRO ever. I’m sharing that experience with Officer Burgess.”

Once Randall leaves BV, he said he and his wife plan to continue exploring the United States and eventually travel internationally. Randall said these plans stemmed from their vacation to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and the Great Lakes.

“It amazed us how much area there is and how much there is to see,” he said. “The vastness of our country is incredible.”

Randall said of his many wonderful experiences at BV, he will miss the relationships with students the most.

“I get to see the kids every day for four years,” he said. “It’s like I have 1,500 kids of my own here.”

Randall said seeing students graduate and become successful in their life is his favorite part of being an SRO.

Students have greatly appreciated his caring personality throughout their time at BV.

“He was checking up on me about colleges and stuff like that,” senior Kelsey Kinkade said. “I feel like he knows the people in the school really well. He even put a smiley face on my parking permit.”