Every individual has their own story about who they are and who they want to be, and sometimes those stories need to be discovered and shared. J. Derrell White, Athens’ resource officer, has such the story.
Although he was born on Dec. 19, (year wished to be kept unknown) to Jimmie and Daisy in Smithfield, NC, Officer White grew up in Clayton, a small town about 20 miles southeast of Raleigh.
“All of my childhood was good. My whole family raised me so I got to see my aunts and uncles and visit my cousins a lot. My parents provided a secure lifestyle for my two younger sisters and me. I had a job because I wanted to work but I never had to work as a child like some other kids did. My father worked as a forklift driver for Winn Dixie and my mother was a factory worker for big industries like Champion athletic wear and Keebler, the cookie company. I got lots of free cookies!” said White.
White’s biggest role model is his grandmother, 96 years old as of May 1st. She raised all nine of her children after her husband passed away in 1965. White views her as “an extremely strong woman” and “the sweetest woman in the world.” White’s mother, his Aunt Lettie and his older cousin Janet also had a great impact on his life.
“My mother is a part of my heart and soul. She stayed on me to do better and she always supported me unconditionally. They all had that much of an impact in my life that I cared about what they thought, and they still influence the decisions I make now,” said White.
White has known he wanted to be a police officer since he was 14 years old. He went to Central Texas College and majored in Criminal Justice, but dropped out to join the U.S. Army.
“College wasn’t what I wanted to do right then. I took classes while I was serving in the Army, but I wanted adventure. The Army gave me adventure and they gave me money to go back to college,” said White.
White served in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and various other units for 10 years. He also served in a special division called the Long Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD) that worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the U.S. Border Patrol to combat illegal drug smuggling. He would station himself in Mexico as an undercover officer and gather details to report to the military intelligence. The skills that he learned in the military helped him to obtain a job as a police officer after leaving the Army.
In 2000, White started to work as a deputy sheriff in Richmond, Va. before transferring to Clayton, NC, his hometown. Realizing that he did not want to be a patrol officer forever, White started to work for the City of Raleigh in March of 2004 in order to try new job experiences.
At Athens, White serves as a resource officer for students, staff and security, delivers presentations on the law and safety and handles school fire drills, tornado drills and lock-in drills. White has enjoyed being a resource officer for the past seven years because he gets to work with people and he can serve and protect them. He takes pride in the fact that he can be a role model to youth. White’s favorite part of his job is influencing young adults to make the right choices and to help them to be better people.
“I like telling people, who aren’t making good decisions–I like giving them a choice. They can carry out their crime and get in trouble, or they can change their actions and not go to jail. They, and everybody else, also need to be aware of their surroundings. Friends in the wrong crowd can get them in trouble,” said White.
White revealed that the hardest part of his job is informing family members of a death. He realizes that the loss of a life leads to difficult questions, and he cannot always provide safe promises to bring people to justice. He realizes that there are still a lot of bad people in the world and even though he is a policeman, he cannot always provide the closure a family needs.
“It’s definitely the most difficult part of the job. You don’t forget what you see, especially when you’re on the crime scene five minutes later and you recognize the victim. When you get out of uniform, you don’t take it home with you. That’s why I act, do standup comedy, coach basketball, spend time with my family, go to church and read the Bible,” said White.
As a school resource officer, White deals with the good, the bad and the ugly. White said that the most common misconception about working as a law enforcer is that he will misuse his power and just arrest people. In reality, he uses his judgment and job experience to do what he is expected to do: keep people safe.
White’s greatest dream is to become a full-time comedian or actor at some point in his future. Until then, he works to eventually be promoted to Sergeant and/or Detective and he prides himself in keeping the ADHS students and staff safe through his service as the Athens Drive resource officer.
“I became a police officer because I wanted to be a role model. I wanted to give back to the community through my service. I wanted to help people, and I wanted people to trust in me,” said White.
