Meyer, an officer with the Fort Dodge Police Department, was recently appointed the new school resource officer at FDSH, replacing Sgt. Bryce Presswood, who was promoted to patrol sergeant.

After five years in law enforcement — mostly in Fort Dodge, but also a year at the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office — Meyer said the SRO role was something he wanted to do.

“It’s the change of pace,” he said. “It’s a much different side of policing.”

He also wanted to learn something new in this role and build relationships with students in the community.

“A lot of it is actually just public relations, making those relationships with the staff and the students, and getting to know them and letting them get to know me,” Meyer said.

Up until this point, Meyer’s experience in law enforcement has been on patrol — doing calls for service, taking reports for car accidents, investigative leads and other standard patrol duties.

A typical day for an SRO starts about half an hour before the school day begins.

“I usually get here at 7:30 and catch up on anything that we may have from last night, or anything that needs following up on,” Meyer said.

During first period, Meyer will sit in on the Intro to Criminal Justice class taught by Presswood, and then he gets on with the rest of his day.

“It’s a lot of meeting with staff and seeing what some needs are, or incidents that might have happened,” he said. “Just being visible.”

Meyer, a 2011 graduate of FDSH, said it was a weird feeling when he first started his SRO role a few weeks ago.

“Seeing how much stuff has changed here and being back in the building as an adult — not only that, but as someone in a leadership capacity,” he said. “It’s kind of cool being back here.”

Meyer has always wanted to be a police officer, he said. He initially went to Iowa Western Community College and Iowa State University for sports medicine and chemistry, but got his feet wet in a job and ended up not liking it. That’s what led him back to Fort Dodge.

“The opportunity arose to actually come back to work in my hometown, so I jumped on it, thinking it would be great to serve the community that I grew up in,” he said. “This is kind of the cherry on top, coming back to my alma mater.”

The SRO program with the schools is not new, but Meyer and Presswood said it’s evolved to a more visible role.

“It’s been an evolution and I think it’s going in a positive direction,” Meyer said. “Bryce has built relationships and made lasting impressions on people, and that will continue with me and then probably whoever succeeds me.”