Lawrence SRO program lauded by policeman who started it

Hopewell Valley school board gets the details

By: John Tredrea
The Lawrence police officer who started the program that put a police officer in that township’s high school and middle school three years ago, told the Hopewell Valley school board Monday the program has been a huge success.
Sgt. Brian Caloiaro, who was a School Resource Officer (SRO) officer himself for three years before becoming the program’s administrative head this year, said "students feel safer and are more apt to show respect if there’s an officer in school. It’s hard to learn if you don’t feel safe." He said that, in selecting an SRO, a school district "must pick someone who wants to be in the school, and who likes and gets along with kids."
With the support of the Valley’s school board, the Hopewell Township Police Department applied recently for a federal grant that would be used to pay two SROs — one in Central High School and one in Timberlane Middle School — in the Hopewell Valley district. The local police have not had a response from the federal government on the grant application, Chief Michael Chipowsky said at Monday night’s meeting.
The chief said getting one or two SROs in Hopewell Valley schools is "a top priority of the township police department … I could get a lot more mileage out of that than having somebody out writing traffic tickets."
The chief added that, if the federal government turns down the Hopewell Township Police Department’s grant application, he could seek funding for one or two SROs from township government. That money would have to be appropriated by the Township Committee in its budgeting process, which occurs annually.
The basis of the SRO program is "building a partnership" between police and youth, said Sgt. Caloiaro. "Our program has gone very smoothly… there have been no glitches or complaints. All the feedback has been positive."
What surprised the Lawrence Police Department a great deal, the sergeant said, was that "we received no negative feedback from the community about having police in the schools, although we expected it and planned for it."
Bringing the Valley one or two SROs, who would work in the schools armed and in uniform, has been supported strongly by Hopewell Valley Superintendent Robert Sopko, Central High School Principal John Bach and Timberlane Middle Principal Steve Cochrane. A majority of the faculty of the two schools also supports the idea, Dr. Sopko said recently.
At Monday night’s meeting, Dr. Sopko said the idea of bringing in SROs here was not a reaction to a specific problem, but a "proactive attempt to maintain the quality of life in a changing community."
Sgt. Caloiaro said an SRO’s basic mission is to help "provide a learning environment free of violence and contraband." Like himself, Lawrence officers who work as SROs are trained by the National Institute of School Resource Officers, which is based in North Carolina.
In his hour-long presentation to the school board, Sgt. Caloiaro said the goals toward which an SRO works are to:
Bridge the gap between youth and police and increase positive attitudes toward law enforcement.
Teach the value of the legal system.
Promote respect for people and property.
Reduce juvenile crime by helping students formulate an awareness of rules, authority and justice.
Take a personal interest in students and their activities. "I encourage our officers to participate in school sporting events, clubs, trips … anything to help kids see we’re all playing on the same team," said Sgt. Caloiaro, who became an assistant interscholastic football and baseball coach while at Lawrence. He added that he seriously considered turning down a promotion that brought a 12 percent pay raise because it meant he would no longer work in the high school as an SRO.
"I really loved the job," he said, adding that students he met while working in the school have continued to contact him although he no longer works there.
Other goals are to:
Help students have easy access to the legal system if they need it.
Give a realistic picture of our laws and legal system.
Teach how to avoid becoming a victim, through self-awareness and crime prevention.
The sergeant said that SROs divide their time between teaching, counseling and law enforcement work. "We don’t take any disciplinary actions in the schools," he said. "That’s left to the school administration. We’re there for safety and security. The SRO has an office and students are encouraged to come in and talk to them, about any topic they wish. And a lot of students have come in to do that. I encourage our officers to be in the halls of their school as much as possible."
On a typical day on the job as an SRO, Sgt. Caloiaro said he would first bicycle around the perimeter of the school grounds to see if there were any problems that needed to be addressed. "After going to my office to check messages, I normally would be in the halls of the school the first few periods of the day. During the day, I’d check doors that were supposed to be locked. Occasionally I’d also check the exterior of the school, to see if there were any truants or intruders there. I’d sit in the cafeteria during lunch. Middle school students want to sit with you during lunch. High school students I would not sit with unless requested to do so. I felt this was a time their privacy needed to be respected."
"I never eavesdropped on students," Sgt. Caloiaro said. "I respected students’ privacy. I wasn’t doing anything like peeking around corners to see if anything was going on. But I had to act on a problem if I found out about it."