OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – Going back to school in Ogdensburg means more security. There will be a school resource officer in each of the district’s three buildings.
The security is paid for by the school and provided by the Ogdensburg Police Department.
According to Police Chief Mark Kearns, SROs are there not only to ensure safety at the school but also to get kids comfortable with police officers.
“We have found historically that the children get very comfortable with these school resource officers and they disclose to these officers a lot of times of crimes that they have either witnessed or have been victims of and that relationship is very important,” said Kearns.
Ogdensburg City School District Superintendent Kevin Kendall looks forward to the relationships that will be formed between kids and police in every building.
“The officers build a relationship with the kids where they feel as though – the kids feel as though they can go to them for anything, but it’s one of those things that again we want the officers to become part of the faculty within the school district and treated just like they would their math teacher,” he said.
Chief Kearns hopes that as the school year goes on, the officers can reintroduce programs that have been missing from the schools, like DARE, a program to keep kids off drugs.
“Our DARE officers are all instructors through the Department of Criminal Justice Services, so they’re all able to teach,” he said.
It’ll be the first year with three SROs. In years past, the district has had as many as two officers assigned to the school district.
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