Area school resource officers do more than just keep the peace

Thursday, September 18, 2003

The two men work for different law enforcement agencies and their constituencies are different, but Dan Miller and Pat McCarty have a lot in common. Miller is a deputy with the Vernon County Sheriff's Office and McCarty is a police officer with the Nevada Police Department. Both are school resource officers and both serve several schools. Miller has duties at Bronaugh, Sheldon and Northeast Vernon County while McCarty takes care of all of the Nevada R-5 schools. Miller is new at being a school resource officer, while McCarty has been at it for several years. McCarty had some good things to say about the county's involvement in the program. "I think Sheriff Peckman and the county commissioners have to be thanked for providing this service to the citizens of Vernon County. I know Dan will be good for the county schools, but he couldn't do it without the sheriff and the commissioners finding the funds for this," said McCarty. Miller said funding was a concern but that Sheriff Peckman is working hard to locate funds for the program. "Sheriff Peckman tried for one grant but it didn't come through. He's trying other avenues to keep it running. He's pretty determined, so I think he'll find a way to fund it." Miller is doing his part to make sure the county programs can continue. "If the funds aren't raised, I'll have to go back out on the street. I'm trying to get funding for the D.A.R.E. program. I spent the other day selling ads to help finance it. I never knew when I got into law enforcement I'd one day become a salesman." While he's new to being a school resource office,r Miller has been around law enforcement his whole life. "I'm second generation. My dad was a cop in Laramie, Albany County, Wyo., for 20 years. I started my career in Laramie, then I went to the Nevada Police Department before moving to the Vernon County Sheriff's Office." Both law enforcement officers agree that their primary duties in the schools are law enforcement and ensuring the safety of the students. "The job includes lots of other aspects besides the primary one. I'm partly a teacher. There are several programs in the different grades that I teach. There's a drug recognition program for the kindergarten through second grade kids, to teach them the difference between medicine and candy. There's a community helper program for lower elementary students and an Officer Friendly program -- so they know they can always turn to a police officer for help. There's a juvenile law class and a domestic violence awareness class for sixth graders. The seventh grade has an alcohol awareness class and eighth graders have Making Healthy Choices and Drugs of Abuse classes," said McCarty. Miller doesn't have all the duties of McCarty -- yet. "We're just getting set up in a lot of ways, so there are some things that aren't implemented yet. As time goes by we'll be doing more. We'll be starting the D.A.R.E. program in October for the elementary students, and we'll have follow up programs that go all the way through high school. That's the most exciting thing right now is getting the D.A.R.E. program going. I'm very excited about that," said Miller. One way the two officers are alike is in the approach to disruptive behavior. If a problem occurs anywhere -- even off of school grounds -- it can be an issue that they will have to address. "The school takes care of the discipline (detention, in school suspensions, expulsion, etc.) and I'm there for the law enforcement aspect. We try to intervene early before there is violence or other crime to let them (the student) know the path they're on," said McCarty. The programs are the same for Miller, just applied to a different school. "It's called reality counseling. We talk about the reality of their actions and the consequences that could occur if they continue their present course." Both officers expressed their respect for the other. Miller expressed his appreciation for the help McCarty gave him in getting started and McCarty is thankful there is another officer in the county with the same agenda. "A lot of the pressure has been taken off because Dan Miller has taken over the job for the county," said McCarty. The programs are aimed at stopping trouble before it starts, although they deal with trouble if it appears. "Police work in general is a reactive job. With this there are a lot of programs that are pro-active. If we can change destructive behavior while it is still minor we can eliminate a lot of major problems down the line," said McCarty. Both agree that while the exact type of behavior police encounter at schools has changed, many problems are the same ones officers have faced for years. "There are differences in the types of activities going on but our generation did the same things and our parents and grandparents had the same problems. What we can do is try something different to see if we can't change some outcomes," said Miller.

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