Student resource officers are a familiar presence in Clarendon County schools, but their role extends far beyond school safety. Throughout this three-part series, The Manning Times introduces the deputies serving local students and explores the relationships they build every day.
Some mornings, Officer Dakota Stephen is checking doors and monitoring cameras. Other days, she's reading books to a classroom, helping a frustrated student take a walk to calm down or celebrating a set of push-ups with a group of excited kindergartners.
For the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) deputy serving as the student resource officer (SRO) at Manning Early Childhood Center, keeping children safe means much more than protecting the school building. It also means helping them feel seen, supported and loved.
"I want them to know that no matter where they are, Officer Dakota has their back."
Serving in her second year as the school's SRO, Stephen has become a familiar face to hundreds of Clarendon County's youngest students, greeting them each morning with a smile, reading books in classrooms, sharing fist bumps and hugs — when invited — and helping children navigate everything from tough emotions to playground disagreements.
A Manning native, Stephen spent part of her childhood in Clarendon County before moving to the Myrtle Beach area, where she graduated from Socastee High School. Although she earned an associate degree in forestry and wildlife management, law enforcement had always been her goal.
"I've always known I wanted to be a law enforcement officer," she said. "I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do the right thing."
After working for the Manning Police Department, she joined CCSO in 2020. She has served on patrol, in investigations and at the courthouse before becoming an SRO at the same school she once attended as a child.
"I love kids, and I think they're the most impressionable people in our community," she said. "If we really want to make a long-term difference, then we need to focus on our children."
Much of Stephen's day has little to do with traditional law enforcement.
She helps students arrive safely, checks campus security, visits classrooms, spends time with children during lunch and recess, and often serves as a mentor when a student is having a difficult day.
"We'll take a little walk and just kind of reset them," she said. "Not everything the officer does in the school has to do with the law."
Stephen also works to make children feel comfortable asking questions, whether she's explaining the equipment on her duty belt or reading during Read Across America Week.
"I just educate them in an age-appropriate way," she said. "A lot of times they have five million questions about my uniform."
While school safety often focuses on locked doors and emergency preparedness, Stephen said some of her greatest concerns extend beyond the classroom.
"Protecting them from the outside is actually the easier part," she said. "Just because a child is safe with me in school doesn't mean that their mind is safe or that they're safe at home."
Working with young children has also changed her perspective.
"If something as small as a push-up can make them excited, what are we really worried about?" she said. "Their happiness is just so organic. It reminds me not to worry about stuff so much. Live in the moment and take the happiness where it comes."
Stephen hopes parents will see SROs as partners in keeping children safe. She encourages parents to teach children never to open doors without an adult present and to avoid using police officers as threats when correcting behavior.
"I don't want them to be afraid of me," she said. "I want them to run to me in a problem and not away from me."
One interaction reinforced just how closely children pay attention.
After correcting a student for running in the cafeteria, Stephen later explained why the rule was important. Months later, the child thanked her in a handwritten note "for telling me not to run so I don't get hurt."
"They really do remember everything you say and the way you make them feel," she said.
Stephen has also become a role model, particularly for young girls. She recalled one student dressing as "Police Lady" for Superhero Day after deciding to imitate her.
"I think it shows them that girls don't have to be limited to what society thinks is a male or female job," she said. "Women are strong, and they can protect you."
Her greatest hope is that every child who leaves Manning Early Childhood Center remembers one thing.
"That she loves you," Stephen said through tears. "And that you can always come to her for help."
