Lynchburg school resource officer breaks boundaries with beats

LYNCHBURG (WSLS 10) - A Lynchburg school resource officer is getting a lot of attention from all over the world for his interaction with students at a high school football game.

He's breaking boundaries one beat at a time.

Officer Ronnie Coleman has only walked the halls of Heritage High School for about a month.

After nine years with the Lynchburg City Police Department, he was reassigned from patrolling the roadways to the hallways and loves his new assignment.

"I get to see a positive side of the law-enforcement instead of responding to calls and answering the radio,"  Coleman explained.

A few weeks in and he's already a hit with students.

Video of him reliving his glory days in the drumline caught a lot of attention after a recent Heritage football game.

"The drumline from 10 years ago play that exact stand-tune and that was the only one that they played from 10 years ago and it just fell right back into it, it was just like riding a bike," he explained.

The school posted the video to its Facebook page and has been viewed thousands and thousands of times since.

HHS SRO Ronnie Coleman winds down from the work week with #1 Big Orange Country's own Marching Band! #HHSandLPD

Posted by Heritage High School on Saturday, September 17, 2016

Sophomore, Josh Howard, is the other drummer seen clearly in the video.

He said the clip sends a message to the students.

"He can like relate to us. The fact that he went to the school is a lot and he's not that old from graduating, so we can relate to him," Josh said.

"I'm a person, I also have talents and hobbies outside of work. I'm not just standing here enforcing the rules and telling them to go to class on time and being the enforcer. I'm also there and they see me interacting with them and I'm building relationships with them," continued Coleman.

Relationships the whole country can see. Even "Inside Edition" caught wind of Officer Coleman's drumming debut and now students want an encore.

"They come up and give me drumsticks and say play something on the table and I'm like 'oh, we probably shouldn't bang on your tables."


About the Author:

After working and going to school in Central Virginia for over five years, Lindsey’s made her way back home to the mountains.