Nov. 13--Years ago, a principal asked Bloomington police officer Brian Evans to park his car behind the school so no one saw it. Schools and police didn't work as cooperatively on a daily basis back then, Evans said.
Nowadays, he is welcome to park his car in a prominent spot, and there is almost constant communication between police and school personnel.
In the last decade, the number of resource officers based in Twin City schools has increased from three to seven. Their duties continue to evolve as communities change.
"If we weren't in schools, principals tell me that in days or weeks the fights and community problems would be back in schools," said Evans, who serves 22 school buildings, mostly public and private elementary schools, in Bloomington.
The other six Twin City school resource officers are based in junior high and high schools, and respond to other schools as needed.
Combined, the efforts come with a price tag of more than $700,000 annually -- costs shared by schools and police.
"Resource officers get to know kids well -- in advance of a challenge," said Bloomington District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly. That creates a better relationship than if an officer is called only during a crisis.
Duties vary widely.
Last week Mike Dowd, Normal Community High School's school resource officer, and Vice Principal Michael Gourley answered a plea from a distraught mother who couldn't roust her 14-year-old son out of bed and off to class. They visited the home, counseled him, drove him to school and were hopeful.
The next morning he didn't show again. They met with him a second time.
"Will he be here everyday the rest of the school year?" Dowd said. "I don't think so, but he knows we care."
He knows such efforts make a difference. About nine out of 10 truants Dowd visits at home don't turn out to be repeat offenders.
At other times he deals with more routine issues, like traffic problems in the NCHS parking lot where 600 students leave in cars within about 20 minutes daily. Dowd helped create a reward system that gives three students caught driving courteously each week a prime parking spot. He also hands out $10 gift certificates for exemplary driving.
Meanwhile, Evans' duties at the elementary level vary from driving a sick child home when a parent isn't able, to talking to students about cyber-bullying or accompanying a teacher on a home-visit.
Sometimes officers have the tough task of enforcing orders of protection or shielding students from an angry parent at school.
Other parts of the job description might involve helping develop building crisis plans and attending school events. In high schools, officers may also teach civics, law or driver education classes. They also interact with students, learning things that help community policing generally, said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner.
The officers also have a different style than a beat cop and different training than school administrators, said Kingsley Junior High School Principal Lynette Mehall.
"They make a huge difference for us when we have a problem to deal with," she said.
At a recent incident at Kingsley, where staff and police couldn't get the answers they needed from a student to determine what to do next, a school resource officer asked the right questions, and helped solve the problem, she said.
Much of that can boil down to trust.
At Bloomington High School the familiar face in uniform has been Marvin Arnold for 11 years. He admitted it took time for teens there to accept him. "For some teenagers, police are the bad guys," he said. "They are comfortable coming to me now."
"He's not intimidating. He's always there," added BHS senior Trenton Jones. While Arnold is friendly and helpful, students still know he's a police officer and deters mischief, the 18-year-old said.
Dowd also recalls a NCHS senior who needed truancy visits three years ago. She was at risk of quitting school without help from Dowd and the school; today she has good grades and is on track to graduate in the spring.
"Its stories like this that get you excited about the job," Dowd said.
Parents also feel more comfortable with officers they see in schools. In the last few weeks Evans received tips from parents that led to investigations about potential sex offenders near children.
"It's communication we would not have if we were not in the building," he said.
Growing police presence
1970s -- In-school police officers gain some popularity at a time when there was social change, but the movement faded.
1996 -- Normal Police Department hires a school resource officer and juvenile detective as part of its plan to address the growing number of teens who had small issues before they got larger.
1999 -- Dennis O'Brien, as assistant and later Bloomington police chief, started a pilot project with an in-school officer at Central Catholic High School. "The officer ate lunch with the students. It was a positive situation," recalls CCHS principal Joy Allen. About a year later, the school returned to having an officer as needed.
2000 -2004-More local schools hire resource officers, including rural schools such as Pontiac Township High School. The new era came with special training, including crisis planning, and a closer working relationship between police and schools.
2008 -- Olympia School District gains a resource officer from the McLean County Sheriff's Department after a bomb threat the previous school year.
2009-2010 -- Normal police increase its number of school resource officers to three: one for each high school; one shared with the three junior highs and supporting the elementary schools.
2011 -- Bloomington gets a new resource officer for George L. Evans Junior High School bringing the police department's total to four officers. Others serve Bloomington High School, Bloomington Junior High School and cover Bloomington elementary schools for both Unit 5 and District 87, as well as private schools in the city.
Annual costs
-- $300,000 -- Paid by Bloomington for four officers in District 87 and Unit 5.
-- $185,000 -- Approximate amount Unit 5 pays annually for three resource officers.
-- $150,000 -- Approximate amount Bloomington District 87 pays annually for three resource officers.
-- $132,000 -- Approximate amount Normal pays towards in school officers in Unit 5.
-- $45,000 -- Share Olympia school district pays for officer in its district.
-- $20,000 -- Cost McLean County sheriff's department pays for Olympia officer.
Sources: District 87, Unit 5, and Pontiac Township High School districts and Central Catholic High School, Bloomington and Normal police departments and McLean County Sheriff.
Who you gonna call?
School/ Base......Police Department ...School Resource Officer...
Normal Community High School...Normal...Mike Dowd
Normal Community West High School...Normal...Mike Chiesi
Chiddix, Kingsley, Parkside junior highs...Normal...Bob Droege...
Bloomington High School... Bloomington...Marvin Arnold
Bloomington Junior High School, ...Bloomington...Rich Hirsch
George L. Evans Junior High School...Bloomington...Shad Wagehoft
District 87 office...Bloomington...Brian Evans
Olympia High School, Stanford...McLean County Sheriff's...Jeremy Bradley
Elementary school students and private schools are also served by school resource officers based at the junior, high school or district offices.
Sources: Bloomington, Normal police departments, McLean County Sheriff's Department, District 87, Unit 5 and Olympia school districts.
Copyright 2011 - The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
