A Paducah school resource officer and her pet were recently recognized by the National Association of School Resource Officers, being named the winners of the Safety and Support Companion award.
Few things are as iconic in today’s popular culture as a police officer and their K-9 partner. But, what about a police officer and her bearded dragon?
When officer Gretchen Morgan patrols the halls and classrooms of Clark Elementary School in Paducah, a scaly, four-legged friend – a spiky, yellow bearded dragon named Rizzoli – serves as her backup.
The two partnered up last year and – like in most cop movies – Morgan wasn’t interested in her buddy at first.
“A parent, actually, in the car line one day rolled by and said, ‘Hey, would you want a bearded dragon?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ It just continued like a few times and she would casually mention it in passing,” she said. “Finally I said, ‘If you can't find this dragon a home ... just bring it here to school. She can hang out and it'll be fine.’”
Taking care of a pet reptile was new ground though for the school resource officer. But, Morgan – who’s worked as the SRO at Clark for three years – saw this as an opportunity to connect with the students she saw everyday.
She said, on top of the safety and security of staff and students, she likes to spend her time engaging with the students and even reading to them when she has the time.
“We were checking out books from the library. We were reading books. Kids began to see her little cage as they walked by and asked questions,” Morgan said. “That really opened the door for me to build more connections with those kids that maybe I didn't know very well.”
Morgan named her partner after one of the titular characters in TNT’s cable cop drama “Rizzoli & Isles.” She thought it only fitting that her new partner be given a police-inspired name and juggled other ideas like “donut” and “badge” before being reminded of the show, which follows a pair of women working as a detective and chief medical examiner.
Rizzoli quickly became a hit with the students, who came to relish visits from the reptile during reading time with Morgan and glances of Rizzoli walking freely down the hall. Morgan said the attention Rizzoli gets from the students has made a positive impact on her ability to connect with the students she serves.
“I show up in uniform. I look a little scary. Most kids' interactions with police, if they have [any], is not positive,” Morgan said. “[Rizzoli] helps me make that interaction positive … [Students] build that trust with me and, with my open door, they can come in and they might use the excuse that they want to come see Rizzoli, when really they just need to talk.”
Students have even gotten on-board with helping with Rizzoli’s care. During feeding time, students will sometimes give Rizzoli her daily meal which can vary from cockroaches and worms to kale and squash with her favorite treat being blueberries.
Morgan hopes to someday officially add Rizzoli to the ranks of Paducah’s finest but, until then, Rizzoli will keep crawling the halls of Clark Elementary.
