JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) \u2014 The Jacksonville Police Department is currently hiring school crossing guards for various elementary schools around the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a job where you have to be very alert because kids don\u2019t look and they don\u2019t think about traffic,\u201d said Jeffrey Walters, a Crossing Guard at Parkwood Elementary. \u201cThey will start running from halfway out of the school and want to keep running right across the crosswalk, and I have to stop them and get them in groups and take them across.\u201d<\/p>\n
Civilian traffic crossing guards play an important role not onl keeping students safe, but also in building trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time is the first contact that people have or young kids have with the police department because they do work for the police department,\u201d said Sgt. James Smallwood III, Jacksonville Police Department. \u201cAlso, it\u2019s a way for the kids to learn to respect the police and learn to go to them when they need help.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking about applying, it\u2019s important to remember it\u2019s a position that requires a lot of dedication to what you\u2019re doing, as you\u2019re potentially saving lives.<\/p>\n