Resource officer has heart for children
Sep. 27—Fort Gibson School Resource Officer Emily Giles walked through school halls on Monday, the first morning of her new beat.
She then took a lunch break with her son, Jonathan, who began his new third grade class at the Intermediate Elementary that same day.
Giles has been with Fort Gibson Police for two and a half months, after four years with the Wagoner County Sheriff's Department. She started work on Monday after several weeks of local orientation and training.
Fort Gibson Police Chief Rob Frazier said Giles proved to be very good at solving problems.
"And she has a knack for working with juveniles and children," Frazier said. "That's what she wants to do, so it's the best fit for her."
Giles said she was looking for a job with better retirement when a former co-worker told her about Fort Gibson.
The school job kind of "fell into place," she said, adding that with four children at home, "we needed a schedule during the day."
"The closer it got to me coming to the school, the more excited I got," she said.
As a resource officer, Giles said she hopes to be available to students.
"I hope that, if there's stuff going on at home, that kids can come talk to me and have a little better view of law enforcement," she said. "I want to be a positive influence, that law enforcement is someone who could help them."
She said she will work full time at the school during the school year.
"Unless we're short-handed on the street, then I'd have to go cover there," she said. "During school days, I'm here. If they're on break, I'm on patrol."
Giles said she originally had planned to be a veterinarian.
"Turns out, I hate science," she said. "I hated biology classes, so I ended up changing my major to psychology, fell in love with psychology from there."
After college, Giles worked as a victims' court advocate for a domestic violence agency out of Claremore.
"Part of my job was to teach training to law enforcement, and reach out to law enforcement to talk about victims' rights and services we did," she said. "I fell in love with the law enforcement side of it. And my boss said your heart is out there."
She said she figured she could do more as the officer on the scene than a person in an office. She started working with Wagoner County Sheriff's Office in 2018, beginning at the county jail.
GIles said having training from the advocate side is a big plus because "it helped me be able to talk to victims and be able to know what resources are available."
