Raygan O’Quinn joined Sheriff Doug Hebert III’s team as a School Resource Officer (SRO). Now she is going to work with the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in Allen Parish for the sheriff.
“I want to get to know them (students),” O’Quinn said.
A native of Kinder and graduate of Kinder High School, O’Quinn is excited about teaching children. She will be doing DARE for fourth and eighth graders across the parish. As an SRO officer, she will be visiting with other age groups teaching young children about 9-1-1 and ‘Stranger Danger.”
“We do visitations with all grade levels. It allows students to get to know me.”
Her job allows her to help students whether she steps into the parent roll at special events like Thanksgiving and Christmas when a student’s family member can’t be there to attend or she attends a community event and sees a student’s face. She will take time to speak to her students – learning about their lives, making sure they are okay, doing what she can to help a student.
O’Quinn said her plan is to know students and keep a good rapport with them. She wants to see them in school and attending events. “I’m going to try to pop in to athletic events – pop in outside of school events. I always tell the kids they can reach out to me even if they see me at the supermarket. I want them to be comfortable with me.”
She said it’s important students know the positive side of law enforcement. And being an SRO officer and DARE officer helps her share information with students.
O’Quinn said, “If I can change one life, then I did my job.”
She’s already teaching DARE in Reeves and Kinder and will be moving to the other schools throughout the year. Despite a few challenges, she’s enjoying working and teaching the students in Allen Parish
She believes her background and how she got to this point makes her a well-rounded officer and perfect for this job. She started cosmetology out of high school and then looked toward law enforcement. She started as a dispatcher at the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office. Working her way up the ladder, she joined the Coushatta Tribal Police Department’s patrol division where she worked her way to sergeant. Then she returned to the sheriff’s office as an SRO officer.
She said once she became a dispatcher, she knew her path and she worked toward this moment. She said it was something she wanted to do, and she has been on both sides now – the communication side and the public side.
“I really like it,” she said of her job.
Her brother-in-law is in law enforcement, and although she has no kids of her own yet, her nephew is the big part of her life these days. And her nephew, Kendon Beeson, loves law enforcement. She said he’s always telling her he is going to be a sheriff officer.
O’Quinn is the daughter of Tiffany and Ed Thomas. If you see her and recognize, tell her hi. She’s doing what she enjoys.
