First Responders Month: Lawrence Atlas' passion for community and family shines through his work at Central Academy

A career in law enforcement was not on Lawrence Atlas' agenda through the first 35 years of his life.

The current Cape Central Academy school resource officer (SRO) worked odd jobs in restaurants, factories and stores throughout his early adulthood when his father sat him down and discussed the importance of finding a long-term job to provide for a family in the future.

Atlas took a job at Lambert Airport in St. Louis loading cargo planes. Ultimately, the work wasn't for him.

"I had my two oldest kids at the time, and I was like, 'Yeah, I need to find a job,' because that job wasn't really fulfilling for me," Atlas said.

Atlas said his neighbor, former St. Louis Circuit Court judge Michael Calvin was integral in his decision to become a police officer.

"When I was in St. Louis, Judge Calvin — may he rest in peace — he asked me from 1999 all the way to 2000, 'Hey, why don't you get into law enforcement?' He asked me that like every month, once a month," Atlas said. "He stayed next door, and I just kept saying, 'Nah, no, no, no.' Eventually, in late 1999, I said, 'What the heck?' And I decided to get into law enforcement."

The road to Central Academy

Atlas began his 24-year law enforcement career in St. Louis before slowly migrating south through Ste. Genevieve, Fredericktown, Madison County, Perry County and Bollinger County. He spent time as the chief of police with Marquand Police Department and taught the anti-drug program at the school.

Eventually, he took a job with Bollinger County Sheriff's Office where he received SRO training. Atlas eventually became the SRO at Meadow Heights High School.

As time passed, Atlas was hired by the Scott City Police Department, where he spent seven years. Later in his tenure at SCPD, he became SRO at Scott City School, developing strong relationships with the students.

“One student in particular, this young man was just great, his name is Gavin Venable,” Atlas said. “We would talk football all day every day. I loved it.”

In 2022, Atlas was approached by a friend who told him Cape Girardeau Public Schools was looking for two SROs to work at Central Academy. Atlas discussed the opportunity with his wife, Michelle, and decided to accept.

“I didn't want to leave because of the kids,” he said. “I enjoyed the kids there, but I ended up leaving there and came here, and, man, it is spectacular. Josh Crowell, Dr. (Neil) Glass, who was here when I started, then Dr. (Howard) Benyon and Dr. (Brice) Beck, all those guys are just great.”

Atlas, overall, is satisfied with his position at Central Academy.

“There's no words to describe how happy I am here,” he said. “Working with these individuals here, if anything is going on or if I need a question answered or something like that, boom, they’re right there.”

Present day

One of the things Atlas enjoys most about his role at Central Academy is the opportunity to connect with local youth and help guide them in a positive direction. While there are negative instances, having to identify a student from time to time for the Cape Girardeau Police Department for example, Atlas’ overall experience has been positive.

“Out of all the kids here, (I’m successful) if I can touch one of them and put them on the right path,” Atlas said.

Atlas recalled a specific instance of an athlete he coaches making bad choices and spending time with the wrong people.

“I just pulled him to the side and said, ‘Hey, if you stop hanging out with them, you'll be 1,000,000% better,” Atlas said. “I said,’ Trust me on this. If you do this, you will be 1,000,000% better.’ After a couple of months, I go to the middle school and he’s coming to school every day. His grades are spectacular. He went from Fs to As and Bs, and I'm like, ‘That's what I'm talking about.’

“That's the reward, right there, you know? If I could touch all of them,  trust me, I would have no problem with that at all. But if I could get one out of that many, I think I've done my job pretty good.”

Outside of work

Atlas is more than just an officer of the law. He's a father of eight, a grandfather of seven and a loving husband to his wife, Michelle, who he married in 2000.

Outside of work, is a self-proclaimed "football fanatic". He coaches youth football and is an avid Los Angeles Chargers fan. Atlas even named one of his sons "LaDanian" in honor of legendary running back LaDanian Tomlinson, his favorite Chargers player, and he and Michelle — a Green Bay Packers fan — had a football-themed wedding.

Another hobby of Atlas' is collecting die-cast cars, of which he has more than 7,000. At one point, Atlas said he had nearly 19,000 cars but had to sell many of them to help pay for his medical bills following a heart attack in 2011. He also enjoys collecting comic books, his favorite being the "Green Lantern".

Atlas is also an animal lover. He and his family had dogs before moving to Scott City, where they still reside, but weren’t able to keep them due to his landlord’s policy. After living at the house for a while, two of his children decided to call the landlord to ask if they could have a cat since they’re not as high-maintenance as dogs.

"Michelle said, ‘Baby, they were on the phone with him for about a half an hour,’” Atlas said. “I'm like, ‘For what?’ They’d asked, ‘Can we have a cat?’ … I love cats, but he said no pets. But he broke down and said, ‘Yeah.’”

The Atlas family adopted two cats at the beginning, but they weren’t finished. Atlas said the family has since rescued several cats, including a pair that were left on the train tracks in Scott City, and now have 11 total.

‘Too much fun’

Not everyone is lucky enough to do a job they love each day, but Atlas does. Although he’s approaching 60, Atlas said he’s hesitant to retire because he enjoys the job so much.

“The wife, she said, ‘You’ve got to be around for the kids and the grandkids,’” Atlas said. “She told me, ‘Think about slowing down a little bit.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know, but I'm just having too much fun.’ I probably come home tired or whatever, but I'm having too much fun. …

“My wife always tells me, ‘You’re just a big old kid with a bunch of other little kids.’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you're right.’ She's my biggest supporter. She keeps me going.”

While he’s not quite ready to call it quits, when Atlas does eventually retire, he looks forward to spending even more time with his family and watching his children and grandchildren grow.

“Once I'm done with the job, I told the wife, ‘I want to be sitting on the front porch with you, and I want to have all the kids and all the grandkids, and I want to look at you and say, ‘Hey, I think we did a damn good job.'"