Pearson Minter

New SRO, Augusto Espinosa, posing for a picture in FMHS. Despite only being here for a short period of time so far, he has had many vape and explicit pictures issues. “vaping is something that we struggle with,” Espinosa said.

With the intent of student safety and obligation to new Texas state law, SRO Officer Augusto Espinosa has joined the Jag family here at FMHS. With the help of Flower Mound, Highland Village, Lewisville, Carrollton, The Colony, and Frisco police departments, LISD will now have an SRO on every middle and high school campus. 

The SRO program was created in 1985 to ensure the safety of students on school campuses during a time of increased violence. The recent passing of state legislation House Bill 3 requires an armed security officer at every campus. All middle and high schools in LISD have enforced the new bill, and  have an SRO on campus. SRO stands for school resource officer, and they act as a proactive measure in the event of any immediate danger. 

Officer Espinosa started as a jailer at Kaufman County Jail in order to support his wife and kids. He eventually got an offer to be the sheriff’s mail postman, which he happily accepted. However, his position got cut a couple years later following The Great Recession of 2007-2009 leading him back to being a jailer. He worked long 12 hour days, following his shift with studying as he put himself through the police academy. 

“After that, for about nine months, I rarely saw my wife and kids,” Espinosa said.

 After years as a police officer, he finally made his way to Flower Mound as an SRO on the FM9 campus.

During his time in Flower Mound so far, the biggest issues he has dealt with have been vaping and ending the circulation of explicit pictures among students. In 2020, about 20% of high school students admitted to currently using a vape and almost 5% of middle school students. Along with these issues, Officer Espinosa has been involved in a couple shootings in Flower Mound. 

“We have a huge vaping problem,” Espinosa shared.

Despite these facts, Espinosa had nothing but positive things to say about the town. There are a lot of things from him to do around here, he loves watching movies, sleeping, working out, and working on his project car.

“Flower Mound is a great town,” Officer Espinosa said. “The kids that live here don’t get how fortunate [they] are to not live somewhere else.” 

Along with his time here, he’s also shared some memorable moments with the high school. He was part of the escort for the 6-A baseball state winning champions, Flower Mound High School. The loving welcomeness has helped him become really supportive of the school and spirited. He has attended many football, tennis, and baseball games as well as fine arts concerts to support the school and its athletics programs. “We have a lot of school spirit here,” Officer Espinosa said.