6 Oneida County school districts enlist special patrol officers
WHITESBORO NY Sept 11 2018 — Classes, classmates and workloads are not all that is new for students this year at five Oneida County school districts.
The Camden, New York Mills, Sauquoit Valley, Waterville and Westmoreland school districts have agreements with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office for part-time special patrol officers to provide additional security at their schools. These officers now are in six countywide districts, as the Whitesboro Central School District has had them since 2015.
With the agreements, the school districts have agreed to split the costs with Oneida County, which has committed $500,000 toward the creation of the new part-time special patrol officer positions. The county sheriff’s office now has 28 part-time special patrol officers assigned among the six districts.
County officials are in discussions with other districts about the program, said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. He said the program is in response to perceived inaction by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as well as state and federal legislators to address school safety.
“When it comes to public safety, that’s the role we play in county governments and certainly in all municipalities,” Picente said. “The role of public safety in our schools is important due to what we’ve seen nationally and due to what we’ve seen locally.”
While the county’s committed to 50 percent of the program in its first year, Picente said that only might continue for three years or so, depending on finances. He said county officials are working with state representatives to see whether the costs could be built into state school aid.
“We want this to be a permanent part of school district funding that takes place out of Albany so that our residents can be assured that their children and their schools are safe,” he said.
The county executive was joined by representatives from participating districts for a news conference Monday at Whitesboro Middle School to announce the program’s launch.
Whitesboro Superintendent Brian Bellair said while his district has structural security and response systems in place for protection, “there is no (automated) system … that can really do the job that the officers do.”
Charles Chafee, superintendent of Waterville Central School District, echoed that sentiment.
“We could have bulletproof glass on the front door and he can go two doors down,” Chafee said. “This really provides one more layer of protection for our students and our staff. We do safety checks on a regular basis, but we’re not law enforcement, so it’s good for them to come in and say, ‘Have you looked at this?’ ‘Have you tried this?’”
Chafee’s district already employs a school resource officer — a full-time deputy that sometimes acts as an educator, counselor and mentor for students — predominantly for Waterville High School. The special patrol officer, he said, will cover Memorial Park Elementary School.
Waterville’s participation was made possible by the county’s offer to match half of the costs. Chafee said he could see how other districts — smaller ones, in particular — could have issues funding their shares, especially since budgets were in the final stages when the program was announced in April.
Individuals applying for the position must be a retired peace or police officer and must possess a valid state pistol permit. Once hired, individuals went through a background check and medical exam, and they had to qualify at a gun range. Each officer also gets their own uniforms and equipment, most of which has to be ordered; those costs — around $4,000 per officer — were wholly covered by the county, officials said.
A majority of the districts committed to participating within the last three weeks, said Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol. Nevertheless, the sheriff said his office managed to get the program in place to start the school year.
Maciol said all officers also are undergoing training, including active shooter training at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany that several officers will be phased into over the next several months.
“The goal here is to get law enforcement into every single school building in the county,” Maciol said. He added, “It’s totally up to the district, 100 percent. I’m stealing a quote from someone else, but the only thing that’s going to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, and that’s our goal here.”
Uticod.com
