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School resource officers build bonds, protect kids

News Photo by Julie Riddle Alpena High School students, from left, Ryker McConnell, Natalie Koproski, Wyatt Smith, and Dylan Lobelt talk to School Resource Officer Adam David at the high school on Tuesday.

ALPENA — Keeping kids safe starts with relationships, says a police officer ready to stand between students and danger.

Recently thrown into the limelight after several school shootings, school resource officers patrol campuses to ward off potential threats.

That requires getting to know — and to care about — students, and to let them see the human behind the uniform, said Officer Adam David, SRO at Alpena High School.

Departing Alpena shortly to move to another state, David has served only one school year at AHS, following the recent retirement of SRO Jim Marquardt.

That one year taught him the value of a friendly smile, a listening ear, and a willingness to get a little silly in forging connections with students — connections that could net that one tip that could save lives, David said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle School Resource Officer Adam David on Tuesday explains barriers erected in the school’s visitor entryway this week to help steer the flow of visitor traffic toward the school office as a safety measure.

Last week, APS sent a letter jointly with local law enforcement officials to state legislators, asking that the state cover the costs of placing school resource officers at Michigan high schools and middle schools.

A June 1 letter from Alpena Public Schools and local law enforcement officials to state legislators appears below. Story continues below the document.

Alpena Public Schools June 1 Letter to Legislators Regarding School Resource Officers by Julie Riddle on Scribd

School districts around the state have suggested the same addition to the state’s 2022-23 fiscal year budget.

The need to bolster school safety measures was highlighted on May 24 when a school shooting in Texas left 19 students and two teachers dead.

While some have criticized police action in that shooting, police credit a school resource officer with helping to stop an assailant minutes after the suspect opened fire at Oxford High School in November, killing four students and injuring seven people.

In Alpena, an officer from the Alpena Police Department serves as on-campus police liaison at Alpena High School, while the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office supplies an officer to work at Thunder Bay Junior High School.

First looking at the new officer on campus with suspicion, students soon accepted David, greeting him as he lingered in hallways and soaking him at the end-of-year water balloon fight, the officer said.

To build students’ trust, he took to wearing a polo in place of a uniform and spending lunch hours in open spaces where passing students could see and approach him.

Opening doors for communication with students is as important for an SRO as standing guard at doorways, because students are closest to information police might need to protect the school, David said.

The National Association of School Resources Officers website shares numerous stories of probable school shootings avoided because of information students shared with SROs.

During the just-ended school year, schools in Alpena and elsewhere in the area responded with lockdowns or other actions when students told their SROs about threats they heard or thought they heard.

When students feel comfortable popping into his office to tell him about their day or share a frustration, he’s building a foundation that lets them feel safe telling him about a threat or disclosing something bad that happened to them or a friend, David said.

Earlier this school year, David had to physically restrain a student when an incident got out of hand.

That student now jokes with David, comfortably throwing an arm around the officer’s shoulder, David said.

Being in students’ presence day after day helps him react appropriately, knowing if a student requires a firm response or if “he just needs a break for half a second,” David said.

Critics say on-campus police officers lead to too many arrests or even make schools less safe.

But police officers in school buildings teach students that police can be a trusted ally, David said.

David’s involvement in school life, friendly demeanor, and constant presence help students open up to him, said Natlie Koproski, junior at Alpena High School.

“He’s just like, ‘Hey guys, what’s up? How was your weekend?” Koproski said at the school this week.

“But he’s serious when he needs to be serious,” sophomore Wyatt Smith said.

“I’ve never seen that,” freshman Ryker McConnell quipped, teasing the officer.

Local police conduct active shooter trainings at schools regularly. Several such trainings are planned for this summer.

Should an actual shooter show up at David’s school, his job, simply, is “to go stop the shooter,” the officer said.

“I’m sure it will be” scary, he said. “But it’s what I gotta do.”

In a perfect world, every school would be home to a school resource officer, David said.

In December, the Michigan House passed a bill that would increase state appropriations for school resource officers from $10 million to $50 million.

That bill now awaits approval from a Senate committee.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.

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