At any Niwot High School football game, Boulder County Sheriff Deputy Eric Underwood will likely be among the crowd.
He’s been a part of the NHS community for nearly the last decade as their School Resource Officer, or SRO, and as he walks through the crowds of the game, he’s constantly fist-bumping students, checking in, or even tossing a football on the sidelines.
However, Underwood says his main focus at these events is safety. Following recent events involving school threats across the country and a shooting in Evergreen, Colorado, there’s a heightened focus on an SRO’s role.
“We do have to enforce the law, but that’s something that we do pretty rarely. The majority of the stuff is just being a mentor and being someone they can trust and rely on to be there every day,” Underwood said…