Schools debate merits, costs of school resource officer If approved, new police officer would need to be hired at about $54,000 BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer The discussion on whether or not a school resource officer is a good idea to implement in Metuchen's high school and middle school brought mixed opinions last week. "I think the issue is people think we live in a bubble," said Emily Gaffney, a junior at Metuchen High School and a member of the Board of Education's special committee for the school resource officer. "My house was robbed three years ago with my brother inside my house…we do not live in a bubble. This school resource officer is not going to be a negative thing for our schools, but a positive thing." Elizabeth Brennan, who is also a junior at the high school and a member of the Board of Education's special committee for the school resource officer, believes the idea of a school resource officer is wonderful. "People should not put a price tag on this issue," she said. "A lot of people don't know what goes on in the schools. We have more knowledge and more information on what goes on." Gaffney and Brennan joined board members Ronald Grayzel and Eileen Frowenfeld, who co-chair the special committee for the school resource officer; Superintendent Theresa Sinatra; Police Chief James Keane; Detective Arthur Flaherty, who focuses on juvenile work for the department; Detective Sgt. David Irizarry; Mark Dubois, a detective and school resource officer for Schuyler-Colfax Middle School in Wayne; Wayne Township Detective Sgt. Charles Ahearn; Jorge Barreto, detective and school resource officer for Wayne Valley High School; Jeff Russo, detective and school resource officer for South Brunswick High School; Capt. Harry Delgado of South Brunswick, and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Judson Hamlin at a public meeting on Jan. 28 at Moss Elementary School. According to the National School Safety and Security Services Web site, school resource officer programs have been in schools since the 1960s. The SROs typically focus their functions on the "triad model" consisting of law enforcement, student counseling, and law-related education. For the past year, the borough's school administration and the police department have been discussing the possibility of implementing a school resource officer program in the schools. "I believe a school resource officer would be beneficial to our community and to our school," said Keane. "It's another part of policing that we thought was worthwhile to look into." The chief said he has researched a school resource officer program and brought in representatives from Wayne Township and South Brunswick, who have already implemented the school resource officer program into their schools. Wayne Township implemented five SROs in 2003, one in each of its three middle schools and two high schools. The township has a total of 13 public schools. The five officers wear plain clothing in the schools to blend in with the students. Barreto, the SRO at Wayne Valley High School, told the audience that there is a distinction between an SRO and a school administrator. "The last thing I am is a disciplinary figure … discipline is for the school administration and the vice principal," he said. "I am an educator, a mentor, and a law enforcement officer when needed. I teach the students their Fourth Amendment rights." Barreto said he remembers when he first became an SRO. "I came off nine years on patrol and I was met with sneers and distrust. I realized that I hated teenagers … my principal, Robert Reis, made it clear that he didn't want the program in the school, and he even told me right to my face," he said. "But I developed a comfort level and trust with the students, and today my principal would be the first person to back this program." Reis said he still does not believe that police officers belong in the schools, but the SRO program changed his mind. "I don't think it's necessary for a police officer to be in the schools," he said. "But we are lucky that our SRO joined our school like another member of the faculty. He has been accepted and is not involved in any of the school's disciplinary actions. We use him in the classroom and have discussions about school bullying. It has worked quite well for us and it changed my mind." Reis said it's important for the school administration and the SRO to work well together. "If they are going to butt heads all the time, it's not going to work out," he said. Barreto, who attends every school function, said students are reliable sources. "We stopped a sizeable drug-dealing group…We learn about domestic violence incidents. I have had rape victims come to my door, and I have had a young woman come to me telling me that she had been bullied for three to four years, which we further investigated," Barreto said. Ahearn, who oversees the SRO program in Wayne Township, said he has seen a drop in juvenile incidents since the implementation of the SRO program. He also said it was important to get away from the mentality of "it can't happen here." "In 2007, according to a CNN poll of the safest townships in New Jersey, Wayne Township was rated the 25th safest township in New Jersey," Ahearn said. "Right after we were named the 25th safest township in New Jersey, we had an incident when a couple of students put an incendiary device in one of our schools. … We're not saying the SRO program is a cure-all, but it could deter situations from happening." Dubois, who is the SRO at the Schuyler-Colfax Middle School, said his job is a little different from Barreto's at the high school. "I'm more like a friend to the students," he said. Russo, an SRO at South Brunswick High School, added that it's important not to fixate on the badge and gun. "This is an excellent benefit to any school district," he said. Sinatra said that if the SRO program is implemented, the SRO would be in the high school for three days and in the [Edgar] middle school for two days. "What is appealing to me is whenever I spoke to a school resource officer, they would tell me over and over again the level of trust that they develop with the students," she said. "I love their role as an educator." Sinatra also added that if the SRO program is implemented in the Metuchen School District, she would like to follow the evaluation process from a Virginia school system. When questioned if the SRO would wear a weapon, Keane said yes. "An officer is fully qualified and trained to carry a firearm," he said. "It would be foolish for the officer not to wear his firearm. God forbid if an intrusion occurred … time is of the essence, and it's not practical for the officer to run to a locker to get the weapon in that case," said Keane, who added that an officer has mandatory firearm training twice a year. "Since our last community meeting in 2006, a lot of questions have [arisen]," said Keane. "The biggest issue is the funding of a school resource officer program. There are different creative ways that we could look into. There were grants available, but not at this current time." Keane said the implementation of an SRO would mean that the department would need to add another officer, which he estimated would cost approximately $54,000. "Unfortunately, we are not able to commit an officer to the schools with the number of officers we have now," he said. Keane said officers do not reach their maximum pay until their sixth or seventh year as an officer. "During that time, we would carefully monitor the program and see how it progresses," he said. "If we are not able to receive grants or need to stop the program, I ask that we would do it by attrition. There are six officers in the next four to five years who are eligible to retire." Residents were worried that the borough was comparing apples to oranges by comparing the Metuchen School District to the Wayne Township and South Brunswick school districts. "We have to justify every expense that we make, since we are in a fiscal crisis," said resident Giuseppe Terracine. "We need to take a look at how much crime is really in the high school, because of the cost of implementing a school resource officer in the schools." Irizarry said the police department had reached out to Middlesex Borough, which has also implemented the SRO program in its schools and is more comparable to Metuchen, but they were not available for the meeting. "We will bring them in for the next meeting," he said. Residents questioned why the borough would not take action and fund the additional officer. Mayor Thomas Vahalla, council President Richard Dyas and Councilmen RichardWeber, ChristopherMorrison and WilliamWaldron were in the audience but were not part of the discussion. "Last year we had to struggle with hiring two additional officers [due to a decision to put a hiring freeze on full-time job openings in January 2007]," said Dyas. "We are dealing with an even more difficult budget process this year. I believe that the officer would be more expensive than $50,000, since we would be putting a more experienced officer in the position of an SRO." Flaherty, who focuses on juvenile work for the department, said numbers could talk for themselves. "We had 251 incidents involving juveniles in this past year," he said. "We signed 40 complaints … there is a need for a school resource officer. I grew up in this town and went to the schools, and there was probably a need for a school resource officer when I was in high school." Irizarry added that unfortunately, Metuchen has a gang presence. "There is the presence of the Bloods, the Latin Kings, and one or two motorcycle gangs here," he said. "We don't have a gang problem, but there is a gang presence." Irizarry said that since he became a detective in 2001, the department has conducted 20 search warrants of residents for narcotics. "Out of the 20 search warrants, 10 of these were former and current Metuchen High School students," he said. The chief said that the number of incidents is not the only item that residents and school officials should look at when considering an SRO program. "New Jersey has this big push with 'station house adjustment' in lieu of juvenile incarceration … the belief of education before incarceration," he said. "These kids get a lot of chances to correct their behavior, and they go through counseling. The state doesn't want to put these juveniles through the system if they don't have to." Eileen Switzer, who said she is in favor of the SRO program, said people should stop saying they believe that the program is "not necessary" for theMetuchen School District. "Buses are not necessary, since the parents can drive their children to school in the mornings and pick them up after school…the reason why we have buses is for the convenience; it's a quality-of-life issue." The special committee on the SRO program said there would be further discussions on the program at Board of Education meetings.