Priceville students design art for SRO's police car

Apr. 19—There's a police car running around Priceville right now wrapped in school spirit.

The car features a yellow, black and gray background topped with the face of a rather ferocious bulldog, the school's mascot.

The idea to wrap the car in vinyl sprung from Priceville school resource officer Chris Champion. Over the years, Champion, who served as a game warden from 1993 to 2023, after which he became an SRO, said he had seen SRO vehicles owned by other cities and counties sporting vinyl vehicle wraps that pictured the school colors and sometime the school mascot.

"There is nothing new under the sun," he said, dismissing credit for the idea.

"When I went to basic SRO school last summer in Pigeon Forge (Tennessee), a few schools and agencies who employ officers had wraps on their cars that had school colors and mascots. I got on the internet and pulled up other examples."

He said the wrap on the SRO car shows school pride and it shows involvement in the community and how important the SRO program is to the high school and the city.

"It's just a tie between the community and the school through the police department," Champion said.

Champion took the idea to local high school art teacher Janet Cavender, who asked her digital media design class to put their heads together. Alyssa Walldorf, an 18-year-old student, did some of the designing, which was done on a computer program, she said. The design was then sent on to Shelton Sign Co. of Decatur, which created the wrap, Champion said.

"The kids all collaborated, and Alyssa's concept was adopted on both sides of the vehicle," Cavender said.

Students tried to match a commonly used typeface at Priceville High.

Walldorf said she was happy to be a part of the creation.

"I feel a lot of pride for being able to take part in this," Walldorf said. "It is a lovely feeling to help people create something that is going to be on a cop car."

One of the aspects the teacher said she liked about the logo was it appeared a little shredded, presumably by either the scrappy mascot's paw or teeth.

"I've been proud of this group all year," Cavender said. "They do lots of projects and do video editing."

Priceville Town Council members also played a role in the process. They recently agreed to have the city pay for the $2,400 wrap.

SROs are specially trained and armed law-enforcement officers who are posted at schools throughout the nation. They are trained in crisis response and are assigned by local law enforcement agencies to work collaboratively with schools using community-oriented policing concepts, according to the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Walldorf said she likes having an SRO officer around and believes most other students do as well.

"He doesn't make you nervous. He seems like a friend, a helpful adult you can go to for support," Walldorf said of Champion. "He's also a form of safety at the school."

NASRO says the three main roles of school resource officers are as educator, informal counselor/mentor and law enforcement officer.

"You maintain the security of the facility and at ballgames, but just as important is being a trusted adult in some of these kids' lives," Champion said. "Nothing is off the table — I talk to them."

— jean.cole@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2361