Police will have regular presence in Dover schools
DOVER (WJER) (August 16, 2022) – A police officer will be a regular presence in Dover schools following an agreement between city and school officials.
Dover City Council and the Dover School Board this summer approved a partnership that would give the district a school resource officer. They will split the cost 70 percent for the schools and 30 percent for the city.
That resource officer is Patrolman Josh Roach. He says he jumped at the chance to work in the schools.
“I look forward to doing this sort of work: working with children, getting involved in the community and with some of the after-school activities,” he said. “I have children of my own, so it’s important to me.”
Superintendent Karie McCrate explained the resource officer’s responsibilities.
“Prevention of violence, building connections with families, building connections with students,” she said. “Really looking at our building and grounds, our facilities, our procedures, our policies with a set of eyes that we really don’t have that expertise.”
She says the officer will not be there to enforce typical student infractions like dress code violations and tardiness.
“We won’t be asking them to do the work of our principals or our assistant principals,” McCrate said.
Interim Mayor Shane Gunnoe says they had worked on the agreement for six months.
“We [assigned] a Dover officer who is well-qualified in this area, and we really think we created a model agreement for other communities to use going forward,” he said.
Roach plans to be in the buildings when students return to class Aug. 23.