A badge, a belt and pair of handcuffs. Chad Walton, school resource officer, wears them every day. Representing Kirkwood law enforcement for the entire student population of KHS is a position of responsibility. Teaching Kirkwood youth to be good citizens is a challenging task in itself. However, this is a daily part of life for Walton.
Walton is critical to the function of the administrative team, serves as an informal counselor and guest speaks in freshman civics classes, teaching morals and responsibilities to the youngest students concerning drugs, driving and constitutional rights, and the Fourth Amendment.
Although Walton is successful in his law enforcement career, having an occupation as a police officer was not what he envisioned in high school.
“I actually wanted to be a businessman,” Walton said. “I went to junior college for two years after high school for business administration. I got married, started a family and moved to Saint Louis in 1993. I got into the business world because that was kind of what I wanted to do obviously, and decided that really wasn’t where I wanted to go.”
It was while he was first getting into this emergency response field that Walton found a possible niche in law enforcement and police work.
“Years ago I worked for an ambulance company, and along the way I met several police officers. Then I kind of started to realize that I needed to get into a career with more longevity,” Walton said. “I looked into being a paramedic first, but I really had problems sticking needles into people and wasn’t very good with that kind of stuff.”
Walton, according to students and staff, has thrived and gone beyond the call of duty in his now 12-year career as an officer and his four years working at KHS.
“I think Chad is a terrific resource for us and brings with him this wealth of knowledge. He interacts with both strong and maybe not so strong students,” Mike Gavin, junior class principal, said. “He brings this perspective of a policeman that nobody at KHS but him has. Chad is also really helpful when we have a real safety threat. Since we have him, we can be aware and prepared [should something happen].”
Riley Erdman, sophomore, is familiar with law enforcement. He said his father, like Officer Walton, has made a career out of it.
“He serves as a really good role model to KHS. He goes above and beyond what is expected of a regular officer,” Erdman said
Walton said he enjoys his career, and believes the best part is the relations he is able to build with the Kirkwood community.
“The best thing about this job is everyday creates a new story with everyone I interact with, and because I work in Kirkwood, a majority of those stories are positive.”
