Joe Basham

Joe Basham works as a School Resource Officer (SRO) in Joppa, and his choice of vocation should come as no surprise when you find that the seeds of his law enforcement career were planted at birth.

He spent his first two years living in the Mounds City jail. After a quick chuckle, he explains that his father accepted the position of Chief Deputy immediately before Joe was born, which meant his mother became the jailer.

“For the first two years of my life, I lived in the jailhouse,” says Joe. “It was a two-story house with a basement. There was a line down the center of the building; half was a living quarter, and the other half was the jail.”

“You’re in jail. But then you walk through a door, and you’re in a house,” laughs Joe. “I was only there for the first two years of my life, so I don’t remember a lot. I believe they typically had one or two prisoners at a time, and my mom cooked their meals.”

Joe grew up admiring his father. He says his earliest memory is placing two toy police cars into the oven as a toddler. The police cars came out a bit melted, flattening their tires, he jokes. “I just always wanted to be a police officer.”

Joe graduated from Meridian High School in 1986. The school was a little larger then, and his graduating class was seventy-eight students, which was small for the time. “I thought Meridian was an exceptional school. My class was exceptional. We had kids go to Harvard and West Point,” says Joe.

He continues, “I liked government, history, and shop. I was the shop guy of my graduating class. If you wanted something like that, it was available. The only negative I can think of is we didn’t have football. But we had really good teachers and administrators. It was such a great school.”

After graduating, Joe joined the Navy, spending most of his time stationed on the USS Yellowstone. He guesses that roughly one-third of his graduating class joined the military, lured by the prospect of seeing the world. Reflecting, Joe realizes the importance of traveling, as it allowed him to truly see Mounds for the first time.

“Get out and see what else there is,” says Joe. “Growing up, a lot of people grow up here and stay here. They don’t get out and see anything. I left through the military. When I graduated, I couldn’t wait to get away from here. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but what I knew is that I didn’t want to stay here.”

He continues, “So I got away. I saw some things. I did some things. And then I realized I could hardly wait to get back to Southern Illinois. I couldn’t wait to get back to Mounds. My advice would be to get out and see it. Make that decision for yourself. But don’t be surprised if it leads you right back here.”

After leaving the Navy, Joe returned to Southern Illinois, where he has lived ever since. Joe attended Shawnee Community College and SIU-Carbondale. Having always admired his father, Joe says he’d always wanted to be a police officer. Upon graduating, he learned that Mounds’ police department was hiring.

Joe applied and joined his local police department. Eventually, he also spent time with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and Cairo’s police force before moving to Metropolis. Joe retired in 2018, spending the last twenty-three years with Metropolis.

Laughing, Joe admits he got bored quickly, accepting the position as Joppa’s SRO within a month of retirement. While he says a large aspect of being an SRO is ensuring a safe and secure environment for the students, teachers, and administration, the kids make him love his job. Joe considers the position a great way to positively impact Joppa’s youth. He also admits that the youth make a powerful impact on him, grinning pridefully; he says that no matter what mood you’re in when you enter the school, the children will always make you smile.

“You can’t help but get involved,” says Joe. “I started coaching and mentoring. I’ve coached basketball and baseball in grade school and junior high. That’s where you really get to know the kids a little better and build stronger relationships. There are some really good kids in this area.”