Brookfield school Supt. Toby Gibson is shown at the Nov. 2 Saturday Morning Coffee public meeting, when he announced that the school and police department had reached an agreement to station a police officer full time in the school.
If all goes as planned, a policeman should be stationed at Brookfield schools for eight hours a day starting Nov. 18, said Police Chief Dan Faustino.
Brookfield trustees approved an agreement with the Brookfield Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 4, and the school board will be asked to approve it at its Nov. 13 meeting. The agreement ends June 12.
“It’s long overdue, I think,” Trustee Dan Suttles said Nov. 4.
School Supt. Toby Gibson announced at his Nov. 2 Saturday Morning Coffee public meeting that an agreement had been reached.
School officials and Faustino said they have been interested in having a resource officer for some time, and the stars aligned to do it now with two impending retirements in the police department, resulting in Faustino having a little short-term flexibility in his budget, and the school being able to use newly allocated student wellness and success funding from the state to cover its cost.
“It’s a win-win for the community, for the school and for the (police) department,” Faustino said at the Nov. 4 trustees meeting.
The school district is treating the SRO program as a purchased service, said Treasurer Craig Yaniglos. The township is responsible for employing an officer and assigning that person to the school, and paying the officer’s salary and benefits. The agreement calls for the school district to pay $34,457, which Faustino said will cover “a vast majority of expenses.” The department will be responsible for paying part of the health insurance, training – if the program goes beyond this school year – and other expenses that crop up.
“The work that you two have worked on here is commendable,” said Trustee Ron Haun, referring to Gibson, who attended the trustees meeting, and Faustino. “I’m sure it’s gonna make a lot of parents and a lot of residents feel a lot better.”
Initially, Cpl. Ron Mann, who has been the school liaison for the police department, will slide into the role of school resource officer, Faustino said. However, Mann is planning to retire in April, and Faustino said he likes the idea of having two people alternating as resource officer. When the assigned officer calls off, the department will send another officer to cover those days.
Faustino said he wants the SRO to be a long-term position, but he and school officials will need to secure money in the future to make it happen. They will pursue grants, he said.
The chief also has applied for a grant to equip the middle school office already set aside for the police department with a computer and related equipment. He would like the SRO to be able to write reports at the school office and have access to police files from there, he said.
Faustino said there are several reasons why he has wanted to have an SRO: The officer would be able to handle any issues that develop in school immediately and build a rapport with students, parents and school staff that could pay dividends outside of school. Also, the position would free up additional patrol time for road officers, Faustino said. Currently, Mann, as school liaison, is assigned to be at the school regularly, but he also has patrol duties to attend to.
“I think you stressed the importance of an SRO isn’t just to confront a bad guy that comes into the school to hurt our children,” Suttles said. “It includes that, but (also) to get a rapport with the students; I’ve heard other students that have SROs and that’s an important link, to have that familiar person dealing with the children day in and day out that may, just by the intervention, stop a problem from festering and occurring.”
The agreement says the mission of the SRO program is to “build a positive climate in which everyone feels safe and students are supported to succeed,” and to “reduce violent crime committed by and against youth in our community.”
The officer will not enforce school discipline or truancy policies or punish students, and has no greater authority to question students or search students, their lockers and their vehicles than what he or she would have working the street, the agreement says.
The officer is ultimately accountable to the police department chain of command, but is “additionally accountable” to the superintendent, principal or designee, and must abide by school policy, the agreement says.
The officer will be a “member of the educational team where appropriate,” the agreement says.
