Resource officers ensure safety

Milton Area School District began its school resource officer program in 2000 and has recently added more officers.  

School resource officers are police officers that work in a school setting, according to District Safety and Security Coordinator Ms. Catherine Girton. 

 “The school district contracts with Milton Borough for the SROs (School Resource Officers), so they are hired by Milton Police Department,” she added.  

Ms. Girton said that the district is involved with hiring to find an appropriate fit for officers that work in the schools. “Chief of Milton Borough Police, Kurt Zettlemoyer, was an SRO here (Milton Area School District) in 2001, so he has a great understanding of the type of officer we need,” she added. 

According to Ms. Girton, Milton currently has three SROs, but is working to hire a fourth.  

The resource officers include Mr. Dennis Derr, Mr. Mark Evans and Mr. Scott Davis, said Ms. Girton. She added that the officers are not assigned to specific district schools. 

“Officer Derr is primarily at Baugher and White Deer, and Officer Davis and Evans are primarily at the secondary but also go into the elementary as needed,” explained Ms. Girton.  

Ms. Girton said the purpose of SROs is to ensure prevention, education and enforcement in schools. “Having uniformed officers in the building(s) prevents a lot of problems or crimes that may occur without them here,” she added. 

The officers are primarily funded through the school district’s general budget, said Ms. Girton. The district has received grant funding in the past to fund the officers. She added that Officer Evans and Davis started off as grant funded. 

Ms. Girton added grant funding allows the district to hire more school resource officers. 

“There is currently a budget of $197,000 budgeted for next year for salaries for four SROs,” said Ms. Girton. Each officer’s salary is dependent on the contract agreement that is established with Milton Borough and the police association, she added.  

Officer Evans has been a police officer for 28 years, three of which have been with Milton Police Department as a school resource officer. Before working with Milton, he said he worked with the state police. 

According to Officer Evans, he was a business major in college but switched to law enforcement after filling out an application for the state police with a friend during a Christmas break, while home from college.  

Being a school-based officer is a lot more personal than working for the state, said Officer Evans. “You know your students, whereas with the state, you’re covering a large area, so you don’t have to develop near the amount of relationships as in the school,” he added. 

Officer Evans said he prefers working in a school environment at this point in his career since he previously worked weekends and holidays. 

Officer Evans added that there may be shifts available in the borough over the summer but SROs aren’t required to take them. This means that the officers are also on summer break at the same time as students.  

Officer Evans said that his role within the school system consists of teaching, being an “unofficial counselor” and enforcing the law. He added that the most important thing to him as a school resource officer is safety for both students and staff. 

Officer Derr said that his career as a police officer started in 1976. “I have been a police officer for 47 years,” added Officer Derr.  

“I am a retired Municipal Police Officer from the Watsontown Police Department. I retired as the Chief of Police after serving 33 years there,” said Officer Derr. According to Officer Derr, he has been with Milton Police Department for nine years, all of which working as an SRO. 

Officer Derr said he first became interested in becoming a police officer after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy. “After my return from duty in Vietnam as a Hospital Corpsman, I had no more interest in medicine but wanted to continue to help and serve people in a different capacity,” he added.  

Officer Derr said he majored in Police Science at Long Beach City College in California. He said he discovered there that law enforcement was the right career for him. 

“I enjoy and am very proud being a Milton Police Department Officer,” said Officer Derr. He added that his role includes his duties to both the Borough of Milton and the school community of the Milton Area School District. 

“I prefer the position of being a police officer with MPD rather than being a school-based officer,” said Officer Derr. He added that as a publicly based officer, there are many extra resources, along with the ability to serve the community in Milton Borough.  

Officer Derr said that his position is considered part-time over the summer months which allows him to sign up for shifts in the Borough of Milton. “I usually work cover shifts on the streets on patrol duties during the 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift or the 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift. I also work back in the schools during the summer school hours,” he added.  

Officer Davis said that he has been a police officer for 30 years. He added that this is his first year as a school resource officer.  

Before working with Milton, Officer Davis said that he worked with the state police as a state trooper and has retired from working with the state. He added that he also worked with various law enforcement teaching facilities, such as Pennsylvania DUI Association and the Mansfield Police Academy. According to the Pennsylvania DUI Association website (padui.org), the association is a “professional organization which is working to address the DUI problem in all of its many stages – from prevention to enforcement up to, and including, adjudication and rehabilitation.” 

Officer Davis said that he has wanted to be a police officer for as long as he can remember. “…My dad was a trooper and I always remember looking at his car and gun belt when he was home, and that’s all I ever wanted to do,” he added. 

Officer Davis said that the main function of resource officers in the school is to make it a safe learning environment. He added that the SROs are notified of any student discipline issues, criminal violations such as possession of drugs and any type of threats in order to keep the school safe and secure. 

“I’m a drug expert,” said Officer Davis. He added that he helps to teach a lot of the Middle School Drug and Alcohol Classes and has brought in the virtual reality experiences for the Criminal Justice Class. 

“I like being in the school because it’s not always about the arrest,” said Officer Davis. He added he believes that the resource officers have a positive impact in the school. 

“I like being school-based just for the fact that we deal with a lot of good students,” he said. “When you’re on the road most of the time, you’re arresting bad guys and that’s what you’re dealing with.” 

“I liked being on the road because if you have a victim of a crime, you could help them and once in a while you could help someone who had a flat tire and or something like that,” said Officer Davis. He added that in the school buildings a lot of the time the officers are talking with students, which is a lot more personal. He said that is the best part of being an SRO. 

Officer Davis added that the worst part of being a school resource officer is the schedule and the paperwork that comes with it.  

Officer Davis said he goes “on the road” with the Milton Police over the summer and does a lot more teaching. He added that this summer he said he will also be traveling to Indianapolis, Ind. to speak at the National School Resource Officer Conference to talk about current drug trends. “It’s a big honor to be asked to speak on a National Platform,” he added.  

“The biggest success of the school resource officer program is the countless positive relationships the officers have developed with students over the years, which has led to students sharing information about potential unsafe situations, allowing us to intervene before the situation occurs,” said Ms. Girton.