Police personnel become integral part of schools

DAVE BENJAMIN Jackson police officers (l-r) Burt Salisbury, Colin Menafra and John Pejoski are enjoying the relationships they have formed with students, teachers and administrators as they work as school resource officers in Jackson schools. JACKSON - Police and school personnel in Jackson are joining together to offer a variety of programs that are designed to help parents, teachers and students.

Most recently, SafeNight programs have been aiming to get parents involved in learningmore about their child's safety. The Safe Night program, which began in October 2005, runs between six and eight sessions during each school year.

With the help of the school resource officer (SRO), programs have been set up to assist parents, teachers and students.

The Jackson Police Department officers who work in Jackson's schools are Burt Salisbury at Jackson Liberty High School; Colin Menafra at Jackson Memorial High School; John Pejoski at the McAuliffe Middle School; and Frank Cipully at the Goetz Middle School.

"The Safe Night program came about through the efforts of the Jackson PoliceDepartment, the Board of Education, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the New Jersey State Police and the township of Jackson," Pejoski said. "We're in the schools and we do safety programs for the kids, DARE (DrugAbuse Resistance Education), and other topics as well. We are there to make the schools a safe place for kids."

Teachers receive training fromthe state police regarding gangs and from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office regarding computer crimes.

Shortly after the program began it became apparent that there was a missing piece to the puzzle- parents.

"We decided to come up with a program specifically designed to involve parents," Pejoski said. "The program was tailored to the parents' time schedule at night during the week when they are at home and are available."

Pejoski said the Safe Night program aims to give parents accurate information regarding concerns or dangers from drugs, gangs, or something on the computer that their childrenmay have to deal with. By receiving accurate information it is hoped that parents will be better equipped in the event they recognize a problem exists or their child needs to seek help.

"We want to give the parents information to make their kids safe," Pejoski said.

SafeNight topics that have been covered include Internet safety, gang awareness, fatal crashes and teenage drinking.

Pejoski said Jackson Municipal Court Judge Daniel Sahin spoke with students to give them a better understanding of what he has to do in his role as a judge.

State Farm insurance agent Andy Weinstein spoke about themonetary impact of poor driving decisions.

"That was really good because it sent a clear message to the kids," Pejoski said, adding that students learn the consequences of getting a ticket or getting into an accident.

Jackson police Sgt. Russell Scialpi said State Farm provided a grant of $2,000 to help fund the education program.

"We're also looking to do a couple of programs in the schools during (2008), including a defensive driving course, 'Alive at 25,'" Scialpi said.

Salisbury added, "The 'Alive at 25' is a defensive driving course targeted at young adults between the ages of 16 and 25. It addresses the driving behaviors that are responsible for causing accidents."

The programwill be offered at both high schools, Salisbury said, noting that he and Menafra received special training in order to teach the course.

"We will be starting that this semester," Salisbury said. "The schools have been very cooperative. They are really behind a lot of the stuff that we do."

Two programs Salisbury and Menafra started during the past few years are the "Grim Reaper" program and "Project Crash."

"Basically, the 'Grim Reaper' program involves 20 to 30 students," Menafra said. "OnMonday we have one student, a senior, dress up as a Grim Reaper and he goes to the students who are involved in the program and pronounces them dead from a drinking and driving accident. For the remainder of the week those students are not allowed to interact with the other kids. They are not allowed to speak with other kids and they act as if they are no longer with us."

On Friday a senior class assembly is held and the students in the audience hear about how their fellow students "died" in an accident.

"Last year we did it for the first time and the faculty and kids thought it had a great impact," Menafra said.

This is the third year for "Project Crash," which is usually held before the prom season begins.

"This year we had more students involved in 'Project Crash,' " he said. "The students

see their classmates involved in a serious crash that has been caused by drinking and driving."

The realistic production of "Project Crash" helps to make the consequences of bad decisions hit home, the officer said.

Menafra credited Dawn DeSicalo of the Jackson Municipal Alliance for advancing the "Project Crash" program.

The SROs are not only involved in presenting programs for parents, teachers and students. The officers are in the schools on a daily basis.

Menafra said that in his position as an SRO he has had to deal with instances of bullying, drugs, fights and assaults.Most of the incidents take place outside of the schools and the SRO helps with investigations, but more often the officers are a support for the students.

"When they are having a problem at home, a problem with a friend or they are being bullied, that's where the biggest difference has come," Menafra said. "They have no problemcoming to the police officer or they can go to a teacher who speaks with the vice principal. In time, the need for help gets filtered back to us. Just having us there and in the classrooms makes a difference."

Since its inception the SROprogramhas had freshman classes learning about drugs and alcohol, sophomore classes receiving driver education, juniors learning about responsibility when they get their driver's license and seniors learning about moving on, what to expect at college and what kind of a person they want to be.

An idea promoted by Salisbury was to address all of the students onwhat can happen to them if they are involved in a crime.

"If you are being harassed make us aware of it," Menafra said. "If you fight in school or if there is a bias crime the students learn what can happen to them. Once the kids know there is a chance they could be arrested for a certain crime they really think before they act now."

He said seeing a police officer in the school makes the students feel a lot more comfortable now.

The school resource officer program began in the 1960s in Flint, Mich., Pejoski said.

"It started when police officers were placed in the schools," he said. "Then it made its way out west, then down south and eventually to the east coast.We are one of the last states to pick up the SRO program."

Pejoski said there are three components to the SRO program: education, mentoring and enforcement of state laws.

"Whenwewent to training in Savannah, Ga., in 2003we learned a lot aboutwhat the program was and how to interact," Pejoski said. "These kids have now been exposed to having a police officer in the school and they are seeing thatwe are friendly and human."

He said it is important to get into the elementary schools with a DARE program and to follow through into middle school and high school.

"The interaction with the kids is awesome," Pejoski said. "It's neat to see kids who don't want anything to do with authority at that stage in their life come over [to us with their friends]."

Each police officer also helps out with a different school sport, club or activity. Pejoski is an assistant boys soccer coach at Jackson Memorial. Menafra and some teachers started a volleyball program and Salisbury is involved with the bowling team at Jackson Liberty.

Salisbury, who has worked at both high schools in Jackson, said the officers are fully accepted by the administration and the school community.

"A lot of things we do would not work without that kind of cooperation," he said. "The counselors call on us andwe call on the counselors. We have kids who come to us and we know where to send the kids for help because we have built those relationships. It's been very good and it works."

Scialpi said each SRO is also a DARE officer.

Explaining the DARE program, Pejoski said the elementary schools are visited four times a year starting with the kindergarten classes through the fourth grade. There is no DARE program yet for fifth-graders.

The middle grades at theMcAuliffe and Goetzmiddle schools and at the St.Aloysius School in Jackson receive the full nine-week DARE program.

"We have also expanded the program to cover gangs, Internet safety, current drug trends and suicide," Pejoski said. "The traditional DARE program covers alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana and peer pressure."

Menafra also credited the school security officers who help tomake the SRO's job easier.

"They know a lot of the kids," he said. "They are able to introduce us to some kids who are having problems and need some help or guidance.Without the security there our job would be a lot harder."

Pejoski also praised Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella and Public Safety DirectorMatthew Kunz for their assistance in making the SRO program work so well.