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Deputy T.C. Thomas
Sergeant
Special Operations
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Welcome to the homepage of Deputy T.C. Thomas, a school resource officer for White Oak High School in Jacksonville, NC. I have been employed with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department since July of 1993 and was transferred to White Oak High School as a School Resource Officer on January of 1998. I graduated from White Oak High School in 1981 and requested this assignment when Onslow County began the SRO (School Resource Officer) program in January of 1997.
During the summer months of 1999, I patrolled the neighborhoods that contain students from my school. I am primarily working the Piney Green road area of Jacksonville including all neighborhoods adjacent to that road. I am doing this in an attempt to maintain and control negative juvenile activity in the areas that serve my high school.
During the summer months of 2000, I have been placed in the Detective Division to work for the summer, or possibly for longer. This also will be a learning experience and will better train me for handling problems at the school.
During the summer months of 2001, I have been placed on a shift on the Patrol Division. This job will be very beneficial for me because it will refresh my memory of "front-line" law enforcement which I did for 2 1/2 years before I was transfered to White Oak as an SRO. When a child envisions being a law enforcement officer this is the job he usually desires to have. Answering calls for help and catching the "bad guys".
I have attended Coastal Carolina Community College in the evenings working toward an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. I have also attended and recieved certification in School Resource Officer training and Advanced School Resource Officer training in Salemburg. Most recently I have attended Juvenile Conferences learning about how juvenile rights difer from adult and the Safe Schools Conference in Raleigh in February 2001.
During the summer months of 2002 I have been chosen by the Sheriff to get a new program started titled RUOK (are you okay?). This is a computer based program that automatically dials any citizen of Onslow County wishing a daily call to check on their well being. This program is primarily designed to help protect the elderly and disabled that live alone. The computer dials the subscriber's phone number every day at the same time and if the subscriber answers the phone, we assume they are okay. If the subscriber fails to answer the phone after three attempts, the computer prints out an alert and an officer will go to the subscriber's residence and check on their well being. Of course, the Sheriff's Department offers this program free of charge to any onslow county resident.
I am also very pleased to announce that on Tuesday June 28th 2002, I was promoted to Sergeant by Sheriff Brown based on scoring in several different areas on my Sergeant's Exam. I am of course very pleased and honored to receive this promotion and will do my best to be an asset to my department and the citizens it serves. July was a good month also when the Sheriff invited me and four other employess to accompany him to the North Carolina Sheriff's Association Annual Conference in Boone, NC July 21st thru 24th.
The summer of 2003 I was placed "on the road". I was placed in the patrol division where I was able to keep myself familiar with answering calls for assistance, writing reports, assisting other officers on calls, and refreshing my memory of road locations in Onslow county. This is a twelve hour rotation shift that works 7 days every two weeks. The time off is great if you can survive the back to back 12 hours shifts.
During the Spring of 2004 I was asked to serve on the School Health Advisory Council committee, which I accepted with pleasure. We are currently coming up with new and fresh ideas to maintain a safe and healthy school environment conducive to learning in our county schools. I was also thrilled to learn that I had been voted into the Board of Directors for Teen Court. I am excited about this because I have been an avid supporter of the Teen Court program and now I get to have some input on how it should operate and help to find ways to support the program so we do not lose it to budget cuts.
This Summer I was informed that I would probably not be returning to the school system because of the length of time I had been there and our department may need my services elsewhere. During the Summer months of 2004 I was introduced to the warrant squad. This duty consisted of serving warrants for arrest and criminal summons. The month of June I had knee surgery which required me to be out of work for approximately four weeks, so when I returned I served civil papers until I felt comfortable with the progress of my knee. (You usually do not have to chase after people to serve civil papers) I then returned to serving criminal papers including arrest warrants. Days before school was scheduled to restart, I was informed by my supervisor to attend the upcoming School Resource Officer meeting. This was the first acknowledgment that I would be returning to White Oak High School. I continued on this duty until school was back in session and I returned to White Oak.
The Summer of 2005 I was informed that I would be returning to the patrol division as a shift Sergeant. The Patrol Division is where I originally got my start in law enforcement when I was promoted from the jail. The shift I was sent to currently has a shift Sergeant so I am sure I will be answering calls and assisting the current shift Sergeant in reading, correcting and signing off on reports. But before this duty begins, I am taking my family to Orlando Florida for a week at the Sheraton Vistana Resort just 5 minutes from Walt Disney World. After another full year at high school, a well deserved break is wanted and NEEDED! I have not been told that I will be returning to School Resource Officer duty at White Oak High School, but I have also not been told that I will not return.
The resort was great and the Florida sun was awesome. I am sure that I want to move to central Florida when I retire. We managed to visit Disneyworld, Animal Kingdom, and MGM Studios during our week there. We also stopped and toured the Daytona 500 enroute there, and visited Wonderworks on International Blvd in Orlando Florida. The kids got a kick out of it, and me and Rhonda discovered we could lay on a Bed of Nails with minimal discomfort.
This summer I was asked to work in the Special Ops department and learn all our computer, technology and electronic equipment. I am also learning about purchasing, shopping distributors, budgets and additional administrative functions. I enjoy this assignment and think that I will probably not return to White Oak High School. If I do not return, I will deeply miss all the students and staff I left behind at the school. I will always treasure my eight years of memories from White Oak High. God bless the students and staff.
The purpose of this web site is to offer valuable information links to students and to obtain input from students, parents and teachers on methods to make our school a safe learning environment for everyone involved.
White Oak is a large high school for this area with over 1300 students currently attending. My purpose for being at the school is to give students advice on legal matters such as state and federal laws, security for students by preventing criminal acts against themselves or their property and to give classroom lectures about the law enforcement profession or explaining the legal system to them.
Most of my job consists of crime prevention such as monitoring the hallways and parking areas, identifying and removing trespassers and becoming involved in student arguments and talking to all persons involved before they become fights. My job at the school is very similar in nature to the older foot patrol police units back a few decades ago. This was a time when the officers walked the streets instead of patroling in vehicles. The benefit of this is that I talk to and really get to know the students that attend my school which can really assist me in intervening in situations that could escalate if I was not able to routinely converse with students and staff. I was fortunate enough to be featured in the school newspaper in April 2000.
June 14th of 2008 is a day I will never forget. One day before Father's Day I received a call stating that a good friend and fellow law enforcement officer, Deputy Steve Boehm, was killed trying to assist others on a accident scene Saturday morning. Steve died doing what he appeared to be born to do, and that was assisting others in their time of need. I never have forgotten when Deputy Boehm and Deputy Gagnon went on a call involving a young child that had swallowed a toxic chemical and stopped breathing. They performed CPR and saved that childs life. Deputy Boehm lived for moments like those. Times he could make a positive impact in someones life. The years of his life he spent on the road answering calls, to the years he spent at White Oak High School after my departure. No job he performed was a waste of time. Steve made the most of every moment. He impacted hundreds if not thousands of lives at White Oak High School and he is already deeply missed. Steve you WILL be missed but you WILL NOT be forgotten! God is already blessing you, may he also bless your family in their time of need. God Bless "375".
Partnership for a Drug Free America
One Answer to School Violence
Onslow County Campus Crimestoppers
