Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2005
Source: Paris News (TX)
Copyright: 2005 Paris News
Contact:  http://www.theparisnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/997
Author: Mary Madewell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

OFFICERS PROVIDE SPECIAL SERVICE TO STUDENTS

Eight special friends greet Lamar County students each day as they report 
for classes -- each with a the goal of establishing positive relationships 
between young adults and law enforcement officers.

School resource officers listen to student problems, teach classes and make 
sure schools are a friendly and safe place to be.

The nation's first SRO program was started in Flint, Mich and after 40 
years it is the norm to have law enforcement officers in schools, according 
to the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Resource officers serve in all Lamar County schools with the exception of 
Chisum Independent School District, and that district currently is looking 
into the possibility of beginning a program.

Paris Police Department officers serve at Paris and North Lamar, while 
Lamar County Sheriff Department deputies serve at Prairiland and Roxton. 
Each officer receives specialized training in dealing with youth.

In 1991, officer Bob Deere was the county's first school resource officer 
assigned as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education instructor in the Paris 
Independent School District. The position is now filled by Pedro Barrios, 
who has served since 1996.

"My primary focus in the DARE program is to instruct fifth graders in an 
awareness of drugs and alcohol at an early age because they are subject to 
be influenced by older kids," Barrios, a Paris High School graduate, said.

"This year's senior class was my first fifth-grade DARE class," Barrios 
said. "I've seen a big difference over the years, and I don't think we have 
the drug problem we had before DARE."

Barrios is assigned to all three Paris elementary campuses and most 
children know him by name.

"I'm with kids every day, and I can't tell you how many hugs I've had," 
Barrios said. "I like giving them, and I like getting them."

In 1994, officer R.D. Milton became the first school resource officer at 
Paris High School and continues to serve along with Brad Ruthart, who has 
been on campus for the past five years and teaches a criminal justice 
class. Both are Paris High School graduates.

"I think it is important that kids have role models," Milton said, "and I 
like to work with kids."

A graduate of North Lamar High School, Chris Bean has been on campus as a 
resource officer since the district implemented the program in 1999.

"Generally we enforce the law on campus, solve disputes and watch for kids 
that are in need of social services," Bean said.

"The most important thing we are here for is to help the kids develop a 
trust in officers," Bean, who holds a degree in criminal justice, said. He 
teaches criminal justice as well as a peer mediation class.

"Students help us too," Bean said. "Sometimes they let us know things that 
are going on outside the school."

A Prairiland High School graduate, Jeff Akard teaches North Lamar's DARE 
program and is in his second year serving the district's elementary campuses.

"I really enjoy what I do," Akard said. "The majority of kids will stay out 
of trouble anyway, but for those few that need help, I think we play an 
important role."

Mike Boaz, in his third year as a resource officer, serves on the middle 
school campus and teaches Gang Resistance Education and Training to sixth 
grade students.

"I never knew what I was getting into, but I absolutely love it," Boaz 
said. "You get to see so much good on campus instead of all the bad on the 
streets."

Being directly involved with 251 sixth grade students each day, Boaz said, 
"It's a new experience every day."

A 19-year veteran law enforcement officer, Deputy Madaline Chance of 
Bairdstown is school resource officer at Prairiland. She joined the Lamar 
County Sheriff's Department in 1999 and began the start-up program at 
Prairiland in 2003.

Chance teaches a local credit course entitled Crime In America, a survey of 
law enforcement that also includes a community service element.

"Kids are not bad; they just have bad days just like adults," Chance said. 
"Some get in over their heads, and you have to help them figure out how to 
tread that water."

Deputy Mike Viehe serves at Roxton, where he teaches a class in courts and 
criminal procedures, a basic indoctrination about how the court system works.

"The rest of the time, I try to promote good will," Viehe said. "The main 
purpose of a school resource officer is not so much to provide security as 
it is to promote relationships between students and law enforcement."

"I am really sold on the program," Viehe said.
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