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Ark. SRO going viral for daily prayer outside school

Officer DeAndra Warren said he prays daily for the students, administrators and staff he serves

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New York Daily News

WYNNE, Ark. — An Arkansas school resource officer keeps about 1,200 students safe each day — but doesn’t get a paycheck for his second, more spiritual role.

Every morning for about five years, DeAndra Warren, 40, has started his day by praying in front of the flagpole on the grounds of Wynne Public Schools, “Good Morning America” reported.

On Saturday, his eldest daughter shared a touching photo of her father bowing his head and folding his hands as he stood next to the pole.

“Often you don’t see an officer on school grounds at the flag pole praying for our children!” DeAndra Warren, 21, wrote of her father in a post that has been widely shared on social media.

https://www.facebook.com/deandria.warren/posts/3163919203833677

“I know this amazing Man of God who prays for our school systems, your children, and our community every day faithfully! This outstanding man is my dad and I’m so proud to be his daughter! There’s not too many people out here in this world like him! Officer Warren we are so thankful for you!”

Officer Warren told “Good Morning America” he prays for the teachers, custodians and cafeteria workers, his family and “the nation.”

“I’d be on my patrol and just pray as I walk up and down the halls,” he said. “One moment I just felt the urge to stop at the [flagpole] and start praying at the pole because of what it represents, and with so many things that are going on in our nation.”

He said he’s inspired by an Old Testament Bible verse — 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will heal their land.”

Warren, a seven-year member of the Wynne Police Department, is in charge of protecting about 600 kids each in the primary and junior high schools, according to Carl Easley, the Superintendent of Wynne Public Schools.

“His character is always upbeat. Always pleasant,” Easley told “Good Morning America.”

“In the last couple of weeks he has always shared some type of uplifting words with me. It’s just part of his personality.”

He is known to high-five and fist-bump students in the halls — and loves “to see kid’s faces light up.”

“I’m just trying to show them a positive light,” he said. “The positive side of law enforcement.”

DeAndra said she “just had to” make a post about her father, “considering the impact that my dad has on all the kids, including the teenagers.”

“Kids come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you’re Officer Warren’s daughter? We love him!’ and it brings me so much joy,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, my dad is doing something to make an impact on all these people.’”

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