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Mercer schools to get resource officer (January 4, 2013) |
HARRODSBURG — It was announced at Thursday’s Harrodsburg City Commission meeting that plans are in the works to hire a resource officer for Mercer County schools.
The timing of the news seemed like a reaction to last month’s mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn., but city and school officials actually have been working to bring a school resource officer on board since March, said Commissioner Scott Mosely.
The presence of an officer at the county’s schools should help serve as a deterrent to violence, but the position has more benefits than simply standing guard against potential mayhem.
“I think it is a deterrent, but the big thing is that all successful resource officers build relationships with students and teachers and staff” that improve the overall safety and security of the school environment, said Mercer Superintendent Dennis Davis.
Davis said the school district will provide about $17,000 toward the position using its allotment of money from the Kentucky Center for Safe Schools, which previously had been spent on the district’s alternative programs. The district plans to continue using the Safe Schools money to contribute to a resource officer’s salary for years to come, he said.
“We’ve wanted a resource officer for several years,” Davis said.
Davis said the resource officer will spend most of his or her time at the high school, ninth grade center, middle school and alternative school but also will visit elementary schools, and help all schools with their safety plans and drills. The officer also will be present at ball games and other after-school activities, he said.
The city’s contribution has yet to be officially determined, but Mosely and Mayor Eddie Long estimated it will be similar to the school’s. The school officer will be an employee of the police department and only work while schools are in session, roughly nine months a year.
Police Chief Billy Whiteneck said the school officer must be certified and up to speed on required training. The position will pay more than the $15 an hour offered to new hires but will not come with any benefits because it is considered part-time, Whiteneck said.
The job will be advertised perhaps as soon as next week and it is hoped a resource officer will be hired before the end of the school year.
Whiteneck said he expects the job will likely attract candidates who are retired law enforcement officers who already have benefits and certification.
Having an officer assigned to the schools will be a boon for the police department as well as the schools, the chief said.
“It will save us from taking an officer off the streets every time we get a call from one of the schools for a fight or bullying or drugs,” he said.
The timing of the news seemed like a reaction to last month’s mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn., but city and school officials actually have been working to bring a school resource officer on board since March, said Commissioner Scott Mosely.
The presence of an officer at the county’s schools should help serve as a deterrent to violence, but the position has more benefits than simply standing guard against potential mayhem.
“I think it is a deterrent, but the big thing is that all successful resource officers build relationships with students and teachers and staff” that improve the overall safety and security of the school environment, said Mercer Superintendent Dennis Davis.
Davis said the school district will provide about $17,000 toward the position using its allotment of money from the Kentucky Center for Safe Schools, which previously had been spent on the district’s alternative programs. The district plans to continue using the Safe Schools money to contribute to a resource officer’s salary for years to come, he said.
“We’ve wanted a resource officer for several years,” Davis said.
Davis said the resource officer will spend most of his or her time at the high school, ninth grade center, middle school and alternative school but also will visit elementary schools, and help all schools with their safety plans and drills. The officer also will be present at ball games and other after-school activities, he said.
The city’s contribution has yet to be officially determined, but Mosely and Mayor Eddie Long estimated it will be similar to the school’s. The school officer will be an employee of the police department and only work while schools are in session, roughly nine months a year.
Police Chief Billy Whiteneck said the school officer must be certified and up to speed on required training. The position will pay more than the $15 an hour offered to new hires but will not come with any benefits because it is considered part-time, Whiteneck said.
The job will be advertised perhaps as soon as next week and it is hoped a resource officer will be hired before the end of the school year.
Whiteneck said he expects the job will likely attract candidates who are retired law enforcement officers who already have benefits and certification.
Having an officer assigned to the schools will be a boon for the police department as well as the schools, the chief said.
“It will save us from taking an officer off the streets every time we get a call from one of the schools for a fight or bullying or drugs,” he said.
