Police come to Wasilla schools

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - A uniformed Wasilla police officer will patrol four Wasilla schools next year, after the Mat-Su Borough School Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a three-year program.

The School Resource Officer program is funded through a joint effort between the city of Wasilla, the Mat-Su Borough School District and a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community-Oriented Policing program.

Over three years, the school district has agreed to contribute $100,000 for the program. Wasilla will pitch in just over $33,000 and the Department of Justice will pick up the rest of the cost, $125,000, for a total price of nearly $260,000.

SRO programs have been in schools since the 1960s but their numbers have increased considerably since a series of high-profile school shootings occurred in the late 1990s.

Anchorage School District is in the second year of its SRO program, which consists of 14 officers and one sergeant. That program will expand by two more officers next year.

Mark Mew, director of security and emergency preparedness for the Anchorage School District, said the officers carry out multiple functions, including traffic stops in school zones, disciplinary hearings and general law enforcement in and around the schools.

For the last three years, the Mat-Su Borough School District and Wasilla Police Department discussed the potential of having an officer assigned to four schools within the city limits.

Amy Spargo, principal of Wasilla Middle School, addressed the school board Wednesday, speaking in favor of the SRO program. Spargo said having a uniformed officer at school would assist in attendance problems and substance abuse issues, while also providing students with a legal and safety resource.

"It would be a preventative presence, just like when I see a trooper on the road, I slow down," Spargo said. "Their very presence helps me be more mindful of making good, safe decisions."

While enforcing the law and patrolling school grounds, Spargo said the officer could also build relationships with students.

"I talked to my teachers, they are excited about this," she said. "They don't see it as a big heavy. Our school is a safe place. They see this as a way to improve student learning."

Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller said she also supports the three-year pilot program.

"It has proved its effectiveness in the Lower 48," she said. "The other thing is, it gets our police officers to interact with our children."

When looking to fill the position, Keller said the city will keep in mind that it takes a special type of person to work with kids.

"We really want the kids to get to know the officer," she said. "It's important to have the right personality; you can't have someone who can't relate to kids."

In the summer, Keller said the city plans to use the officer to patrol parks and other popular gathering places for kids.

Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle gave the school board members a memorandum detailing the SRO program. According to the memorandum, districts and communities that have implemented SRO programs have seen significant decreases in school crime and vandalism.

During the discussion Wednesday, Doyle told the board that Mat-Su schools are already requesting uniformed officers at certain events anyway. Having an officer dedicated to patrolling schools in Wasilla's city limits would take some of that pressure off other officers.

"Schools are utilizing this anyway," Doyle said, "because they know the value of having a uniformed officer attend big gatherings just helps keep things under control."

Doyle reiterated, however, that the officer would not be serving the entire school district, only the students who attend Wasilla High School, Wasilla Middle School, Burchell High School and Iditarod Elementary.

While some school districts, such as Anchorage, started their programs, in part, due to concerns about violence in the schools, Mat-Su Schools Information Specialist Kim Floyd said officials hope the presence of the Mat-Su officer will prevent disturbances.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.