GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Josh Lee is the new School Resources Officer at Green Cove Springs Junior High.

The 14-year police veteran has held a variety of positions over his long tenure as a law enforcement officer. Lee served with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office before joining the Green Cove Springs Police Department in February. He has been a patrol officer, worked undercover in narcotics investigations, supervised deputies on patrol and has been the Chief Bailiff of the Putnam County Courthouse. He has also been a SWAT team and Honor Guard member.

His current position is a significant departure from his previous assignments.

“The stress level is way down,” said Lee. “But you know, its something that’s kind of been on my heart really, to do for a while. But now that I’m here, I’m definitely not regretting the decision.”

Although Lee has only been the school resource officer for less than two weeks, he is already finding the job to be rewarding.

“I’ve really gotten to get relationships with a couple of them [the children], the second week of school, to where they actually see me in the hallway, and they don’t avoid me,” he said. “It’s good to see the newness and the innocence again in the world, versus constantly seeing people at their worst, call to call to call. My goal is, from this aspect, maybe to instill in these young people and make connections with them so once they reach that adulthood age, they make better choices and wiser decisions on what they’re doing with their lives.”

Lee is involved in his church as a youth leader. The relationships he forged in that capacity have also paid dividends. Expecting to arrive at the school not knowing any of the students, he was surprised to find that, in fact, he did.

“It’s been awesome because there are actually kids that have been in my youth group at church that go here,” he said. “Me knowing them already, interacting with them here, its almost as if their friends instantly became my friends.”

Typically, he arrives at about 7 a.m. (football practice takes place before school starts) and then opens his office. Then he walks around to various spots at the school, making sure that he is visible to the students and parents who are dropping off their children. Once classes begin, he makes regular sweeps of the campus, checking for all safety concerns, including making sure doors are locked.

Lee says he gets most of his interaction with the students during their lunch periods when he can roam around the cafeteria and talk more with them.

After lunch, he continues his patrols. Following dismissal, he is around for the afternoon sports practices before leaving for the day.

So far, he says that things have gone surprisingly well.

“I hate to jinx the year, but it’s been extremely smooth so far,” he said. “I anticipated on, you know with the COVID, I mentally pictured chaos the first couple of weeks. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how smooth everything operates.”

He gives credit to the administration at the school and the amount of planning they did. Lee hopes to be seen in a positive light by the students with whom he interacts daily.

“It’s gotta start with the younger kids in order to be able to get our communities in law enforcement cohesively working together again,” said Lee. “If these young kids see that I’m not a bad guy, I’m not here to hurt them; I’m here to protect them, to help them, that they will be able to carry that on into adulthood.”

In his short time as a school resource officer, the job is everything Lee has hoped it would be.