Renton Police Officer Yusuf Jibril is originally from Somalia, but later moved to Minneapolis, where he attended high school and was first motivated to be a school resource officer — a dream he’s now realizing at Lindbergh High School.

Jibril is the new full-time school resource officer at Lindbergh and is one of three SROs at each high school in Renton. Last year, he was the only school resource officer for the entire district. Now, being at Lindbergh solely, Jibril said he gets to focus on creating relationships at the school.

Before becoming a school resource officer, Jibril said he was a patrol officer for the Renton Police Department, then a Seattle Police Department Officer, and before that, a Navy Reserves officer. Jibril said he ended up in Washington when he joined the Navy Reserves after high school, but his desire to work in law enforcement began when he was in high school.

“Growing up, I think one of the first mentors that I had and actually that took interest with me was an officer that was assigned to the high school that I went to. And it’s the most positive adult that I had, a good mentor that I had in my life, that was him,” Jibril said. “As a young man, I believe he kind of kept me out of trouble and got me involved in programs. So that’s something that always made me interested in the whole police aspect of things.”

Jibril said when he was in high school, he always envisioned that at some point in his career, he would be a school resource officer too. So, when the position opened, Jibril said he jumped at it because he knew it would be a way to give back to the community.

Jibril said he’s been able to mentor kids as they become adults or start working, and it’s been very inspiring for him. He said as an SRO, he’s had students ask to use him as a reference when applying for their first jobs.

Additionally, Jibril said if a student is interested in a certain job, he’s been able to refer them to people who do those jobs. For example, Jibril said a student told him they were interested in journalism, so he referred the student to a former journalist who works at the police department.

Jibril said he views his job as more than just being a police officer because it also involves being a resource for students. He said that even if he doesn’t know anything about a certain subject, he will always try to find someone who does.

Jibril said that through these daily interactions, he has built relationships where he can consistently get to know students so they’re comfortable with him. He said that if students know of an issue that needs to be addressed, they can feel comfortable coming to him because he’s built a relationship with them.

Jibril said his favorite part about being an SRO is impacting a young adult’s life through mentorship. He said a senior was unsure what to do after high school, so he asked Jibril how he enjoyed his time in the Navy Reserves. Jibril said he told the student about it and then guided the student through deciding which branch to join. He said that student is now preparing to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test to see if he can join the Navy.

Jibril believes SROs are important because they build bridges to the community and show people that the police department is one with the community. He said it teaches students that officers are no different than any other member of the community, and that police are there to work with the community, and not against them.

“Having this interaction where we’re not responding to anything, we have the time, we have the means to be able to have a conversation, just talk. Whatever question they have, they can ask,” Jibril said. “It’s not just the kids, but a lot of people don’t have interactions with the police unless you call 911 and it’s the worst day of your life.”

Jibril said that in addition to building relationships with students, a lot of his job entails keeping the school and students safe.

One of the things they train for is the case of a school shooting. He said if that were to happen, he would 100% address the situation because keeping teachers and students safe is one of his primary jobs: “That’s one of the things on our minds, and we always train for it. I would 100% do anything to address the issue. I want to make sure I can prevent any harm coming after the kids. It’s something I would not hesitate for or wait a minute.”