The Missoula County Sheriff's Office has named Detective Rebecca Birket as the new School Resource Officer for 11 schools throughout the county.

At a Wednesday press conference, Sheriff T.J. McDermott introduced Birket, along with administrators from Frenchtown, Lolo, Target Range and Bonner Schools.

"This is something that we're all excited about," Mcdermott said. "It came about as we had discussions with our school partners throughout the county. We haven't had a School Resource Officer for the county in over a decade when we participated in the DARE program. Detective Birket is super-dedicated and a very hard worker."

Birket said she recently completed her SRO training out of state.

"I was down at Alamosa, Colorado, where I attended the National Association of School Resource Officers at their basic 40 hour SRO training course," Birket said. "With 11 schools to cover, I'll have to use creative scheduling. Every single one of the schools needs an SRO. You find after a couple of weeks just how welcoming the kids become, where I deal not just with problems at school, but also with problems that pop up at home. None of the schools are in any imminent danger, but it's more about getting to know the kids one on one."

Birket said since she has children at one of the local schools, the students identify her not just as a law enforcement officer, but as a mom and most importantly as a trusted adult.

Birket received praise from the sheriff's office for her role in negotiations with two carjacking suspects in May of 2016 that resulted in a Washington State family being released safely.

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