“My ultimate goal is that I don’t want children this age to be listed as an offender. That’s the goal. We are not really focused on the crime they committed. We are focusing on behavior.”
School Resource Officer (SRO) Michelle Robinson is and has always been committed to helping the youth of Urbana grow into the best individuals that they can be, regardless of race and socioeconomic status. A native of Urbana, where should later patrol, Robinson’s love for her home runs deep. Though she is now living in “the country” with her family and several animals (she’s housed chickens, rabbits, African geese, and even raccoons), her passions bring her into the City of Urbana every day.
“They want me to focus on building relationships and they want me to focus on mental health, and that’s why I like it.”
SRO Michelle Robinson
Robinson’s passions include mental health and mentorship. With a background in mental health and elementary education, she arrives at Urbana Middle School (UMS) in her soft uniform on a mission to guide the 6th- through 8th-grade students not through strict discipline, but by strengthening connections between herself, the students, and the clinical professionals housed in UMS.
“Let’s not go the discipline route and let me get in touch with some clinical professionals,” she responded when asked about her first steps in helping a UMS student in trouble. “I work one-on-one with clinical professionals. They come to me for advice. I kind of give them some outlet.”
This positive relationship with support staff helped her become a vital part of the UMS family quickly. Robinson began her run at the neighborhood middle school during the 2019-2020 school year and her appointment was one only some families were happy about. Several community members are strongly against having a police presence in school buildings, something that Robinson said, as a mother of three, she completely understands. However, she is using this to work hard toward her vision of proactive leadership and improved relationships between local youth and law enforcement.
“Urbana doesn’t want me to go after every crime that is happening. They don’t want me to be the normal police officer,” Robinson said while discussing police presence in schools. “They want me to focus on community policing. They want me to focus on building relationships and they want me to focus on mental health, and that’s why I like it.”
Several years ago, Urbana School District #116 (USD116) implemented restorative practices, which placed clinical professionals directly into the school buildings to help improve student support and decrease cases of violence among students across The District. Over $1.2 million has been spent to add clinical professionals and other support staff, and The District looks to continue to add to that roster. With the assistance and encouragement of the UMS support staff in place, Robinson is confident that she can help reduce the number of students becoming a part of the system.
“We’re a team. They have brought me in and enfolded me as staff. That being said, I go to the staff meetings here. I go to staff development days,” said Robinson. “The teachers got to know my face and knew what I could do. They’ve incorporated me into the staff.”
Even with her background and intent to keep local youth out of the system, Robinson knows that outside of her building’s walls is a different issue across the nation with police. However, she insists that both USD116 and The City of Urbana are doing the hard work from the inside to improve the policing issues as a community. “Policing is changing across the nation. It’s going to change because of what’s going on in our nation right now,” she said acknowledging the nation’s policing issues. “It needs to change. It’s time to change. The City of Urbana is ready to do the footwork.”
Through it all, Robinson is still at it day-to-day to help her students, whom she calls “my babies”, become the best young adults they can be. Her growing relationship with the UMS student population is apparent as students and staff stop to chat with her as they enter the buildings, something that she hopes continues. Ultimately, the SRO looks to become the change that needs to happen between policing and student mentorship. And she knows that she’s the right person to help lead the charge.
“If you want policing to change, I am the police officer you want to have. SRO Burnett is the police officer you want to have,” said Robinson. “I’m ready to be the voice in the police department for that change.”