GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central Schools are beefing up security with the addition of two full-time school resource officers, who start work February 5.
Rick Wilcher will be based out of J.B. Stephens Elementary, while Ron Chittum will split his time between Eden Elementary and Maxwell Intermediate School on the north end of the district.
Both men have spent their entire 20-year careers with the Greenfield Police Department.
Chief Brian Hartman said the officers plan to retire from the department before starting their new jobs with the schools, although they’ll technically be rehired by the city as reserve officers to stay connected with the department.
“It’s great
because the schools will now have two officers with unmatched experience, plus they still have access to the resources of the Greenfield Police Department. As reserves, they’ll still have police powers and all of their equipment — as well as access to the reports, the relationship with the prosecutor — so it just makes that transition so much easier for not only the schools but the community,” said the police chief, who plans to submit the officers’ retirement request Jan. 23 to the city’s Board of Works.
On Jan. 8, the school board approved hiring the officers as full-time staff at a rate of $40 per hour.
The corporation’s human resources director, Dan Jack, said the latest hires will bring the total number of full-time safety and resource officers working in the schools to four, covering five of the eight buildings in the district.
The other schools are served by a rotation of reserve officers on their days off from full-time police work.
Hartman said the challenge has been finding officers willing to work as resource officers on their days off, given the fact they work 12-hour shifts for the city.
The police department and school system worked together to find a solution that works, he said, which is hiring reserve officers to serve the schools full time.
Jack said the ultimate goal is to have a safety officer or resource officer posted in each school each day, and that the two latest hires are a step in the right direction.
“We’re just really excited about having some Greenfield Police Department officers with us that are full time,” said Jack.
“They have great relationships with the city already, and now they’re going to be in our schools full time and will get to know the kids, the parents and teachers. That feeling of consistency and safety for our kids and teachers will be much appreciated,” he said.
Hartman said the relationships school officers build with kids is just as important as the peace of mind they bring.
“I believe the most important thing is the relationship and the bond that gets built between these officers and these kids,” he said.
“Our (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer can’t go anywhere within the city without kids being like, ‘That’s my D.A.R.E. officer,’” said Hartman.
“Having that relationship gives them the safety and security to know that there’s somebody they can reach out to. Whether they’re in the fifth grade or twelfth grade, they’ve built that rapport with that officer and they can say, ‘Hey, there is a person that I trust.’ I think that is just as big a benefit as the security part of it,” he said.
