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By Amy Crawford
Greensburg Tribune-Review
Officer William “Buzz” Yakshe was early for his appointment, so he decided to stop by the cafeteria at Newlonsburg Elementary School.
The imposing Murrysville police officer, with his bushy mustache, navy blue uniform and holstered sidearm, was soon mobbed by children.
“Officer Buzz!” they called out. “Hi, Officer Buzz!”
Yakshe, who has been the Franklin Regional School District’s resource officer for nearly five years, joked with the students about their lunch choices, admonishing one boy, “You’re not supposed to eat the cookie first!”
The child sheepishly picked up his sandwich. Yakshe smiled at him.
Franklin Regional is one of several school districts in the area that have hired or are considering hiring a school resource officer. They are sworn police who work in schools, rooting out trouble before it starts, educating students about the law and making arrests or issuing citations when students break the law.
While the position is common in urban schools, it is only in the past few years that districts in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have begun hiring resource officers.
“He’s a natural as far as working with little kids,” Newlonsburg Principal Tina Gillen said of Yakshe. “The more comfortable our younger kids are with him, the more they will think of him later as someone they can go to for help.”
While building a rapport with students is an important part of his job, Yakshe also handles more serious matters. He investigates drug, weapon, theft and harassment cases at Franklin Regional High School. He visits health classes to instruct teenagers about the danger of drinking and driving, and he organizes seminars for younger students on Internet safety and not talking to strangers.
“I don’t ever have a typical day,” he said.
Fewer fights
Penn-Trafford school officials are discussing hiring a resource officer, who would come from the Penn Township Police Department.
Paul Ronca, who took over as police chief this year, supports the idea.
“An officer would interact with the youths so the kids see the police in a more positive light,” Ronca said.
Last week, principals met to discuss the role an officer would play in their schools.
“It would be nice to have someone in the school that could develop a relationship with the kids,” Penn-Trafford High School Principal Scott Inglese said.
The school board is expected to vote on the issue at its February meeting.
In Monessen, John Bachinski has served as a school resource officer since 2006. In that time, said district Superintendent Cynthia Chelen, fights and other incidents have declined by as much as two-thirds.
“Kids didn’t think twice about punching someone,” she said. “Now they do.”
Gateway School District in Monroeville hired Officer Derrick Maultsby in 2006. Though school officials at first were hesitant about the cost, the program proved successful and the district last year added a second officer, Mark Kandrack.
“Both of the officers have been assets to our schools,” Assistant Superintendent Dale Lumley said. “The students get to know a police officer, to respect him. Sometimes the students open up and share information, and that’s been valuable.”
North Versailles Township police Sgt. Steve Latsko has worked in the East Allegheny School District for nine years, making him one of the longest-serving officers in the area.
“It’s a great deterrent. It makes people feel safe,” Latsko said.
Other Allegheny County districts that have hired resource officers in recent years include Bethel Park and Woodland Hills. Plum Borough schools have had a resource officer for seven years. Pittsburgh has its own school police force.
9,000 strong
The National Association of School Resource Officers has more than 9,000 members, spokesman Kevin Quinn said.
“It’s not new, but it’s expanded,” said Quinn, who is a school resource officer in Arizona.
While many people think resource officers are necessary only in high-crime areas, Quinn said, most officers focus on prevention and education rather than enforcement.
“You have kids getting to know and respect a police officer,” Quinn said. “When most people first interact with a police officer, it’s negative. This gives them a chance to interact in a more positive way.”
The primary barrier to hiring a school resource officer is funding. Annual salary, benefits and expenses for an experienced police officer can run more than $100,000. While grants are available from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the funds usually cover only the first few years. After that, municipalities and school districts must work out a way to split the cost.
But principals, teachers and students say that having an officer in the building is worthwhile, especially when they recall the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and other school shootings.
“I think just by his visibility there is less of a chance that something could happen,” Franklin Regional High School Principal Tina Burns said about Officer Yakshe.
“He makes you feel safer,” agreed sophomore Ashlee Figurelli, 16. “We really like him being in our school.”
Maultsby, the Gateway officer, said the most important aspect of his work is preventing ordinary teenage issues from escalating into crimes.
Using the example of some recent threats he found on the social networking Web site MySpace, Maultsby said he planned to call the involved students into his office and mediate the dispute. If that failed, he would issue a citation for terroristic threats.
Maultsby is not the only officer who monitors MySpace. In fact, many school resource officers find themselves dealing with different problems than they had found on the streets.
“All this electronic stuff has made harassment and bullying very easy,” Yakshe said.
Yakshe does not spend much time in his office at the high school, where he keeps a copy of the state criminal code (“the policeman’s Bible”) in his desk and a chart of abused pharmaceuticals on the wall. Still, students are invited to come in and talk any time they need advice about legal matters at home or at school.
“The only thing I ask them is that they’re up front with me, and I’ll help them,” he said.
Yakshe believes this rapport with students is the key to his job.
“I will never know how valuable my job is,” Yakshe said, “because I never know what I’ve prevented.”
Copyright 2009 Tribune Review Publishing Company