WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Valley High School in West Des Moines is Officer D.J. Frunzar's old stomping grounds.
"I am a recent Valley graduate myself," Frunzar said.
Things look a little different at the school these days. For starters, he's now the school's resource officer.
"Technology has changed and everybody has their cell phones with them at all times and is listening to their music," Frunzar said.
His goal is to cut through that.
"This position allows me the opportunity to connect with the students," Frunzar said. "We can chat about relationships or sports or cars or their jobs."
Valley Principal David Maxwell says communication builds trust and leads to safer schools.
"If there is a problem, that students feel safe coming to an adult and sharing whatever it is that is stressing them at that time," Maxwell said.
Incidents like the one in Uvalde, Texas have caused school leaders to evaluate their security measures.
"It forces me to just think about, 'okay, are we doing everything that we can within our power to maintain and sustain that safe learning environment,'" Maxwell said.
Next year, things could look different.
"When summer comes around, and the children are out for the summer, it's a perfect opportunity to get together and reevaluate everything and see if there's updates or new suggestions on things that we can implement, to make things safer for everybody involved," said Sergeant Jason Heintz of the West Des Moines Police Department.
Meanwhile, Officer Frunzar expects he'll be back walking the halls.
"I want to be visible to the staff, the teachers and the students."