Date: Fri 24-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-school-resource-officer

Full Text:

Police Appoint A New School Resource Officer

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Police Captain Michael Kehoe said Wednesday patrol officer Gladys Keating will

assume the post of school resource officer in mid-October.

Ms Keating, a town police officer since February 1997, will step into the job

left vacant by Officer Christopher Vanghele in August when he was promoted to

the rank of sergeant.

"It's a nice fit for the job," Capt Kehoe said, adding, "She's going to do a

good job."

Ms Keating brings the education, maturity and experience needed to perform

well in the post of school resource officer, Capt Kehoe said.

"It's a unique position. You're in a school setting, a pro-active setting.

You're really not reacting as much as you would as a patrol officer," Capt

Kehoe said. The schools are a more positive environment than police usually

find themselves in while on patrol, he said.

The captain pointed out that being a school resource officer provides a police

officer with much training and can help advance a career.

Several patrol officers who have served as either the school resource officer

or the youth officer have advanced to the rank of sergeant during the past

three years. Capt Kehoe formerly served as both school resource officer and

youth officer.

School Superintendent John Reed said the resource officer post has been well

received by members of the community, adding that officers who have served in

the role have done a good job.

Until Ms Keating was named to the voluntary post this week, the school system

was without a school resource officer four weeks into the new school year.

Newtown was one of the first towns in the region to have a police officer

serve as a school resource officer. The position was created about five years

ago during the tenure of former police chief Michael DeJoseph.

The officer teaches courses and handles law enforcement duties at Newtown High

School and Newtown Middle School, spending most in-school time at the high

school.

Until Ms Keating starts as the school resource officer, police patrol officers

will be making periodic stops at the two schools to make their presence felt,

Capt Kehoe said. Those stops will involve walking through the buildings to

check the premises, he said.

In recent weeks, the police department had found it somewhat difficult to fill

the vacant school resource officer post due to limits the post places on

police overtime work.

When a person works as the school resource officer, the amount of potential

overtime that he can work in form the police "side jobs" is greatly decreased.

Those side jobs often involve directing traffic at road construction sites in

the daytime, the time when the school resource officer is in the schools.

The town and the police union are expected to discuss the financial aspects of

the school resource officer post in continuing collective bargaining talks for

a new police labor contract. The police have been working without a contract

since July 1 when a four-year agreement expired.

Besides the school resource officer, the police department has a youth

officer. The youth officer teaches the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)

course to fifth graders and handles law enforcement matters in the elementary

schools. Officer Dana Schubert is the youth officer.