Police Officer for High School on Hold

by Louise Tutelian

(May 9, 2007) At their Tuesday, May 8th meeting, the Mamaroneck School Board decided to delay further action on placing a School Resource Officer (SRO) with a visible gun in the halls of Mamaroneck High School, choosing to study the concept further and consider alternative security measures.

The decision will come as good news to some of the 50 parents who had expressed concern at a spirited meeting on May 3rd with MHS Principal Dr. Mark Orfinger and representatives of the Yorktown police department who are SROs. “What are the specific needs we are trying to address? What different options are there?” asked Robin Nichinsky, a parent and school board trustee, who attended both meetings. “A lot of people feel rushed.”

District Superintendent Paul Fried recommended that the Board of Education put a committee in place to study long and short-term security options at the high school, including further study on the SRO. In the meantime, the $35,000 that had been allotted in the school budget for the SRO (the district would split the $70,000 price tag with the Village of Mamaroneck) could be used for other security measures, such as cameras.

School Resource Officer: Nationwide Trend But New to Mamaroneck

Thousands of high schools (and many middle schools) in the U.S. now have SROs, including over a dozen in Westchester County, such as Harrison, Croton, Sleepy Hollow and Yorktown. School-based policing, in fact, is the fastest growing area of law enforcement, according to the Minnesota-based National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). Last week’s two-hour meeting was the first time, however, that many parents here had even heard the term “School Resource Officer.”

An SRO’s duties typically include acting as a liaison to the principal in investigating criminal law violations on school property and serving as a resource for students, parents and faculty in preventing crimes before they happen. He or she should be familiar with all community agencies which offer assistance to students and their families, such as mental health clinics and drug treatment centers, and make referrals when appropriate. An SRO may also counsel a student suspected of engaging in criminal misconduct, when requested by the principal or parents. SROs do not become involved in school disciplinary infractions that aren’t crimes.

Detective Sean Lewis and Patrolman Brian Shanahan of the Yorktown Police Department, SROs in the Yorktown and Lakeland High Schools respectively, tried to ease parental concerns at last week’s meeting. Clean-shaven and crew-cut, dressed in khakis and polo shirts bearing the emblem of their department and wearing badges and guns, the men described what they do. “I’m not there to stand in a corner waiting for a call about an incident,” said Officer Shanahan, who wears his full uniform on the job. “I’m there to build relationships with the kids and be a resource.” He added that he has guest-lectured on crime scene investigation techniques in science classes, internet safety, cyberbullying and the mathematics of reconstructing an accident scene.

Both officers stressed that School Resource Officers are not on the job to give detention, play an on-going academic role, or release information to the school that they are exposed to in the police department. “If three kids graffitied a 7-11 on a Sunday night, I do not run into the principal’s office and report it Monday morning,” said Detective Lewis. “But if kids graffiti a bathroom wall later on, yes, we’ll talk to those kids about that.” Officer Shanahan said that an SRO also hears about parties while they are still in the planning stage, and alerts the parents, many of whom are unaware of the plans. “The goal is not to bust the kids, but to prevent the situation from taking place.”

Resistance to SROs From Some Parents

Some parents were visibly dismayed to learn that the officers, while working in conjunction with students, school administrators, faculty and social workers, must have their guns and badges visible. “I really hope that we don’t have to say that the best thing we’ve done at MHS is to put an armed police officer in the halls,” said Liz Liscio, co-president of the Mamaroneck High School PTSA. She added that while many high schools in the county do have SROs, Scarsdale, Ardsley and others do not.

Claudia Sussman, mother of a junior, commented that she would like to know how the schools who have not opted for an SRO are handling the same issues facing Mamaroneck. “This is a cultural shift in the school,” she said, not to be taken lightly. Some parents said they felt that even the term “School Resource Officer” tried to disguise the fact that the officer is still a law enforcement presence, despite the educational and counseling overtones.

Others Support SROs

Dr. Orfinger framed the vocal SRO debate in terms of trying to stem the declining “quality of life” at the high school. “By nipping certain things in the bud, you can keep worse things from happening,” he said. Referring specifically to vandalism, theft, and outsiders walking the halls, Dr. Orfinger said “a second set of eyes” would both enhance security and free up administrators who have had to deal with the incidents.

When pressed, Dr. Orfinger and school social worker Helene Fremder said that the police are summoned under ten times a year, typically for theft or selling pot on the field, with most of those calls not ending in an arrest. While there has apparently been no single event that sparked the meeting, incidents have been on the rise in past years. In 1999, for example, the district suspended nine students for drug and alcohol use; so far this year, 32 students have been suspended for the same thing.

John Sullivan, principal of Yorktown High School and president of the Empire State Supervisors and Administrators Association, which represents 3,300 school administrators around the state, said in a phone interview that school administrators not considering beefing up their security are being unrealistic. “They are like passengers concerned about the music being played on the deck of the Titanic,” he said. “Mamaroneck is surrounded by at least three or four communities that are heavily gang-related. Beyond that, there is the threat of acts of violence—the one kid out of 1,500 who goes home, gets a gun, and comes back shooting. The SRO—if he’s the right SRO—manages to find and talk to kids that other people don’t. He becomes a resource for administrators long before a problem becomes serious.”

Mr. Sullivan stressed that getting the right person is vital. “You need someone who is tough but can relate to kids, maintains confidentiality, isn’t afraid to call parents and is willing to hop in his car and go see a kid at night,” he said. “That’s the key to making this work.” He recommended that both police and school district work very closely on narrowing and selecting candidates. It appears at this point that the Mamaroneck Village Police Department and not the schools will have the final say, another element that didn’t sit well with some parents.

But more than a few parents felt the idea was worth a try. “What’s the downside?” asked Lisa Senter, PTA Council president. “Either it will be useful or ineffective. Are parents worried about what it looks like to have a police car parked outside the school? Everyone knows we don’t live in Mayberry anymore.”

Susan Lewen, PTA Council president-elect, said that initially she was concerned that “the job of an SRO was to basically nail the bad behavior and stupid things that 16- and 17-year-olds do. But I’m reassured by this discussion.” Caroline Scudder, a history teacher at the high school, was also in favor of the concept. “It’s one more voice, one more conduit, one more person to give guidance and support,” she said.

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