e2c0e3c4ad3e78eacf7f67ccee617a2c.jpg

LAWRENCE: Detective’s calling is aiding youngsters

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Lawrence police Detective Scott Caloiaro enjoys children.
   That’s why the veteran police officer has chosen to serve as one of the Lawrence Township Police Department’s two juvenile officers.
   And it is Detective Caloiaro’s dedication to helping children that has earned him the Professional Services award from the Cherish the Children Foundation. The nonprofit group generates money to fund the activities of the Mercer County Commission on Abused, Neglected and Missing Children.
   Detective Caloiaro was honored this week at the foundation’s annual awards ceremony, held at the Mercer Oaks golf course clubhouse. The event was co-sponsored by the Mercer County Commission on Abused, Neglected and Missing Children.
   The 38-year-old detective, who shares the juvenile officer duties with Detective David Burns II, said winning the foundation’s award was a “total surprise.” He said he was very honored and proud to receive it.
   ”Some people don’t realize it, but we as juvenile detectives have a chance every day we come to work to make a positive impact on a child,” he said. “We are the last defense a child has to turn to, if they are in need — if they have a problem or they are abused or neglected.”
   As much as he loves children — he has a 3-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter — Detective Caloiaro had not set his sights on becoming a juvenile officer when he became a police officer in 1995. He thought he would spend his career in a patrol car until he met Detective Al Veltri, who was the Lawrence Township Police Department’s juvenile officer before he retired.
   Detective Veltri invited the young police officer to accompany him to a fast-food restaurant for a crime prevention program, but the hitch was then-Patrolman Caloiaro had to don the McGruff costume. McGruff is the crime-fighting dog who encourages people to “take a bite out of crime.”
   ”It was summer, and it was 95 degrees, and it was hot, (but) I put on the McGruff suit. I absolutely loved how the children responded to Detective Veltri and McGruff. I knew that the juvenile aspect of policing was definitely my calling. I grabbed onto Detective Veltri’s coattails, and whatever he did, I tried to do,” he said.
   Detective Caloiaro became a juvenile officer in 2000.
   A typical day involves visits to the Lawrenceville Elementary School and the Eldridge Park School as well as other police duties. The goal in visiting the schools is to foster a positive relationship with young children whether it is with a simple “high five” slap of the hand or a smile, he said.
   ”Some children will come up to us and want a hug,” he said. “I know that’s not the politically correct thing to do, but that might be the only hug a child gets that day from anyone. If we can make that child feel special and wanted, then it’s totally worth it. That positive interaction with a child might be more than they receive at home, ever.”
   Detective Caloiaro also works with students at Lawrence Intermediate School, Lawrence Middle School and St. Ann’s School. He teaches the Drug Resistance Education Awareness program at LIS and St. Ann’s and the Gang Resistance Education and Training program at LMS.
   The juvenile officer also teaches children about bus safety, Halloween safety and how to handle strangers. He teaches individual classes at public, private and parochial schools. During the summer, he teaches Safety Town, which is a two-week-long program for pre-kindergarten students that teaches them about playground safety, pedestrian safety and how to safely ride their bicycles.
   ”We are the busiest division (in the Police Department). I can be in and out of my police uniform two or three times a day. When I go to the schools, I wear my police uniform because the children want to see a police uniform. Part of our allure to the children is the uniform,” he said.
   But first and foremost, Detective Caloiaro said, he and Detective Burns investigate crimes involving young people — whether the children are victims or perpetrators. He checks in with the public schools on a daily basis and acts as a liaison between the Police Department and the school district administration.
   And while he has established a rapport with the children, the detective said there are times when he has to work hard to “break down the barriers” between the police and children and their families. A child may watch as his or her parent is taken into police custody for one reason or another, he said, and most children are “totally forgiving” of that parent.
   ”We have to break down the barrier that we (the police) are not the enemy to them — we are a friend. Our schools are very good at contacting Detective Burns or me if there is an incident that occurred at a child’s house. We will have a sit-down talk with the child and explain that we are there to help and to be their friend and that they can count on us,” he said.
   Detective Caloiaro said that in his 11 years as a juvenile officer, he has never had a child “shy away” from him because of what happened at the child’s home the night before. The juvenile officer function is crucial because if the juvenile officer can reach children early enough and help them with their problems, “we can dispel any misconceptions they may have about police officers,” he said.
   One of the most rewarding aspects of the job, Detective Caloiaro said, is when a child he has helped approaches him years later to thank the juvenile officer for that help. That’s when he knows he has done his job, he said.
   The juvenile officer said he often has been asked why he has never sought a promotion to police sergeant, which is a supervisory position and likely would take him away from contact with the children.
   ”My response is, I will apply at some point in my career, but I don’t believe my work is done with children. I think I’ll know when the time is right to make the move to sergeant,” Detective Caloiaro said with a smile.