Prior to accepting the position as the Resource Officer (R.O.) at Southeast of Saline, Officer Long was a patrol officer. In November of 2019, when Officer Martinez retired, Long decided that this position would be a nice fresh start to his policing career.

The moment Officer Long walked into the building, he created change. He reshaped the SAFE (Seatbelts Are For Everyone) program, which was formerly known as Crime Stoppers. When he first started to reconstruct the SAFE program, there were only five members, and presently, there are 35 members. He has also broadened the student’s knowledge on safe driving by bringing in many different speakers such as: Booster Rooster, Think Fast, Gary Parker, and soon Miss Kansas will be at SES to speak to the students.

It is no secret that Officer Long has helped encourage a positive, easy-going nature at Southeast. Not only is he a great leader at our school, but he is also a great role model outside of school. He is very involved with extracurricular activities, and even coaches wrestling. He is also the father to two girls; one is in school and one that will be going to SES in the future. Officer Long is a busy man being a father, coach, and showing up to every sporting event that he can. He has a packed schedule, but he feels that time management and google calendar has been most helpful when trying to get through this busy time of life. To add to this busy schedule, he is currently enrolled at Kansas Wesleyan University, working towards a degree in criminal justice. 

Whether he has that time or not, Officer Long makes it his mission to build relationships with all of his students. He prides himself on knowing every single high school student’s first name at Southeast of Saline, and it seems as though he has already successfully completed his goal of building meaningful relationships with the Trojan student body. 

As Officer Long approaches year four as our Resource Officer, he notes that he loves his job, and he would love to continue on his current path at a higher capacity. Officer Long loves Southeast and the relationships he has built, and he does not plan on leaving our school, but moving up to a higher position might be a great advancing step in the future.