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Windsor, Vt., School Resource Police Officer Leaves in Frustration

Posted on: Saturday, 20 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 19--WINDSOR, Vt. -- When Shannon Beauregard saw a newspaper advertisement for a School Resource Police Officer in the Windsor School District, the former art teacher thought she found the right job.

"I'm one of those people, wherever I went to teach, troubled kids gravitated towards me," Beauregard said. "As a teacher, there wasn't a lot I could do."

After a year and a half as Windsor's first School Resource Officer, or SRO, this is Beauregard's last week with the Windsor Police Department and School District. She said Thursday she was leaving out of frustration with the job and herself.

"I have not been able to accomplish my job," she said.

Windsor is one of many communities throughout the country to utilize federal grants through the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS, to fund a School Resource Officer.

COPS offers communities money to enhance their police departments to address specific areas of need. School Resource Officers are dedicated to addressing violence and drugs in schools. Beauregard was Windsor's first SRO under the three-year grant program.

Beauregard applied for the job in Windsor and got it. After going through the Vermont Police Academy to get her certification, Beauregard thought she would be able to make a difference in the lives of Windsor kids.

Her decision to move on is born out of a sense that she was unable to do the job the way it needed to be done.

"The person that should have been in this position needs to be an experienced police officer. Someone who already knows the ins and outs of being a cop first." she said.

She said her lack of experience at policing made it difficult for her to learn the specialized position of being an SRO.

"It's hard not knowing what being a police officer is like," she said. "It's very different from being a teacher." There are serious issues facing Windsor, she said. Issues like drugs and violence that need an experienced officer to be able to tackle them.

"There are a lot of drugs in this town and that heavily filters through to the youth," she said.

Violence is also rife throughout the town and the school, she said.

Beauregard said she was shocked when she started working in the Windsor schools and saw the level of fights and brawls among even elementary school students.

"There is a lot of violence," she said.

Beauregard said many of the problems students face stem from dysfunction at home. Asked how much schools could do when children are under the supervision of Beauregard and the school system for about eight hours a day, she responded: "That's a big chunk of time." The next SRO for Windsor will need to work with the school to provide needed structure in the lives of these children, Beauregard said.

"They need consistent structure, consistent compassion and accountability," she said.

Police Chief Vinny Jordan said the department has scrambled to get a list of candidates to the town offices and school district. The next SRO for Windsor will have to be an experienced officer, Jordan said, if for no other reason than timing.

"The next academy session doesn't start until February and that person wouldn't be able to start until June," he said.

Jordan would not disclose the names of any of the candidates, but he did say there are a few current Windsor Police Officers on the list. If one of those officers were hired, the department would then be short one officer.

"The town and the school are going to have to make the decision on who they want for an SRO," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.

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Source: Eagle Times, Claremont, New Hampshire

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