Collegedale Academy receives school resource officer

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. (WDEF) — Collegedale Academy welcomed their first ever school resource officer on Tuesday.

Head of School, Brent Baldwin, introduced the school to SRO Cordario Eatmon.

Not only is this the first SRO for the institution, but it is also Collegedale Police Department’s first SRO.

“We’ve never had a school resource officer,” said Chief Jack Sapp. “And without the partnership and agreement between the city and Collegedale Academy, we’d still be at the drawing board.”

Officer Cordario Eatmon being welcomed to the school / Collegedale Police Dept.

School board members voted in favor of partial funding of an SRO earlier in the year. The Collegedale City Commission voted in favor as well.

Collegedale Academy is a private school that teaches children from grades K-12.

According to the police department, the state of Tennessee only provides security cameras to private schools. This is why the police department decided to team up with the school to maintain school and student safety.

“If I get to change the mindset of students for the positive, then I think I’m doing a good job,” said Officer Eatmon. “I pursued this SRO position because I wanted to have a positive impact on the lives of young people. I wanted to make that influence my new purpose.”

Students have started calling Eatmon “Officer C,” according to the police department. They say he is a former Murfreesboro police officer and special agent with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

Police officials said Officer Eatmon holds a bachelor’s degree and hopes to pursue his master’s degree soon.