With recent school safety issues nationwide, Cathedral has incorporated a new Student Resource Officer (SRO) . Officer Dominique “Dom” Smith has accepted this position with the intent to help to keep our students and school community safe. 

Officer Smith started on the Hill on Dec 12 and has begun to make improvements for safety procedures into every school day here. Smith has extensive experience in law enforcement in the greater Indianapolis area and she joins us from the Cicero Police Department.

Prior to the police academy, Officer Smith attended Fishers High School where she graduated in 2015 and continued onto IUPUI where she graduated in 2018 with a degree in Public Safety Management and Criminal Justice.  Following her education at IUPUI, she joined the police academy in Feb 2019. 

In an email sent to students and families on Nov 30, the new SRO was introduced along with her plans. It reads, “Dominique Smith, will join us for the intruder drill. She has served with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Fishers Police Department. Officer Smith is currently a Cicero Police Department Reserve Officer and will continue that role when she comes to Cathedral.” 

A typical day for Dom can look numerous ways. From phone calls to meetings, Dominique covers any and all things regarding safety. Upon her arrival, Cathedral incorporated a scheduled intruder drill which was mentioned in the email. 

The email read, “While Officer Smith’s official first day at Cathedral is December 12, she will be on-site to monitor our intruder drill. We have had several officers on campus to assist our safety team this fall, and we are pleased that Officer Smith is joining us as our School Resource Officer. Officer Smith says it’s always been her goal to serve as a School Resource Officer.

When not in her office, Dom can be found in many locations around campus. Everyday, she works on safety plans, meets with other officers, checks locks on doors, interacts with students and can be found in the Student Life Center (SLC) supervising lunch. 

Smith said, “I am in charge of all safety (for) the school and also as an educator and liaison to law enforcement. I sit in with the Student Innovation Team (SIT) at least once a day to get an update with them.” 

Smith works alongside the SIT team to discuss all plans to ensure safety here on the Hill. Above all, she hopes to “bridge the gap between law enforcement and students” and build relationships with all Cathedral students. Smith understands the importance of her role, as many schools in the area are not blessed to have an SRO. 

She said, “I work a lot on safety plans, because there was no safety plan. It is a ridiculous amount of work, I work on that periodically and I meet with different cops all of the time. I have different phone calls with them and other SRO’s probably once a day to get their advice. I always walk the campus to ensure all of the doors are locked and I stop by and say ‘hi’ to students!”

No day is the same for Dom as she works effortlessly hard to ensure that this school is a safe environment for all. During her work day, she collaborates with a variety of people, all in an effort to incorporate a plan for the unimaginable. 

She said, “For (Cathedral), (the goal) was to get a lockdown on safety. A lot of Catholic schools do not have School Resource Officers because they are not required to have them, but the world is a dangerous place and full of sin. A lot of parents wanted to know that Cathedral was a safe place to send their kids and the school wanted to hire somebody to get along with the students and make sure that the campus is secure.” 

The SIT team and Officer Smith are all working for the same goal: “to ensure that Cathedral High School is a safe place to send their kids.” Dom’s goal is to work to close the gap and be a strong individual for those who need her. Due to current events and recent safety concerns at schools nationwide, Smith recognizes the necessary precautions that need to be taken as “schools cannot be completely unsecured.” 

Officer Smith invites all students to stop by her office located in the WAC lobby and say ‘hello’. Officer Smith said, “I make sure that we have a plan, that way there are steps on what to do in the case of any emergency.”