Police Name Second School Resource Officer

By Andrew Gorosko

Police patrol Officer Robert Koetsch has been named the police department’s second school resource officer and will handle law enforcement-related duties at Newtown High School, Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe said this week.

Officer Koetsch, 34, has been a Newtown patrol officer since 1993. He starts as the high school resource officer Monday, August 21.

Having a second school resource officer will allow the police department to have separate resource officers at the high school and at Newtown Middle School. Officer Gladys Pisani, who has served as the resource officer for the high school and middle school since last fall, will now focus her duties at the middle school.

A $125,000 federal grant allows the police department to create the second resource officer post.   

Newtown will receive the $125,000 grant from the US Department of Justice’s office of community policing services. The grant will cover three years’ salary and fringe benefit costs for a second school resource officer. As part of the grant program, the town agrees to assume the officer’s salary and benefits for the following three years, according to Detective Sergeant Henry Stormer. Sgt Stormer heads the police detective bureau, to which school resource officers are assigned.

Newtown was one of the first towns in the area to have a school resource officer. Former police chief Michael DeJoseph named Officer Joe Rios to that post in 1994.

Police Youth Officer Dana Schubert handles police-related duties at Hawley School, Sandy Hook School, Head O’ Meadow School, Middle Gate School, and St Rose School.

Commenting on the appointment, Acting Chief Kehoe said, “I think he’ll do an excellent job. He has a great deal of educational experience. He relates well to people. I think his personality is a perfect fit for kids, administrators, teachers, and staff. I think he’ll do a fine job representing the department.”

Acting Chief Kehoe said the town’s having a second school resource officer will mean more thorough police coverage of the public schools and will result in better coordination of police services.

Having Officer Koetsch assigned solely to the high school will allow him much time to develop relationships and rapport with the people there, Acting Chief Kehoe said.

The role of a school resource officer is to reduce youth violence and juvenile crime, plus encourage positive behavior in young people. School resource officers safeguard young people from violent or exploitative behavior, provide students with security, and help students foster healthy relationships with their peers and teachers. Resource officers become mentors to young people and provide drug abuse prevention programs, anger management instruction, and conflict resolution classes.

Sgt Stormer said, “I think it’s a great thing for the youth of Newtown.” Having a second resource officer will allow police to do more work in the schools and be more effective in that role, the sergeant said.

To prepare for his work as a resource officer, Officer Koetsch will receive specialized training in several areas, Sgt Stormer said. These include interviewing, interrogation, violence in schools, sexual assaults involving juveniles, narcotics, and bomb recognition. Officer Koetsch will be attending training in Waterville, Maine. Officer Koetsch volunteered for the school resource officer post. 

Officer Koetsch said that as a school resource officer he will function as a liaison between the police department and the school system. He said his presence in the high school will ensure that it has a safe learning environment.

Part of his job will involve helping children who are in trouble, intervening on their behalf, he said.

“An arrest isn’t always necessary,” Officer Koetsch said.

But there will times when law enforcement is necessary, he added.

“As crimes happen, then I [will] take the appropriate action,” he said.

Part of his job will involve providing appropriate referrals to students. Officer Koetsch will work out of an office at the high school. The officer said he expects that a portion of his duties at the high school will involve social work. He will work in a police uniform or plain clothes, as the situation requires.

Officer Koetsch is studying for his law degree at Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden. He plans to graduate in December, after which he will take the Connecticut Bar Examination. Officer Koetsch is president of the Newtown Police Union.