New Bellefonte school resource officer ready to roam halls
By Dena Pauling
- dpauling@centredaily.comBELLEFONTE — Bellefonte Area High School students can finally meet the police officer who will have his own desk at their school.
Jason Brower, 37, has been hired as the school district’s first full-time school resource officer, a new position that’s taken more than a year to finalize.
“It’s going to be a big boost to the kids and the police,” said Brower, who expected to start working today. “It will be challenging. There are lots of challenges with a new program. But in the end, as far as building rapport between the police department, the community and the students, it’s going to be an excellent addition to the town.”
Brower won’t have a learning curve when it comes to knowing the borough. He worked as a patrolman for Bellefonte from 1993 to 2000 before taking a job with Ferguson Township police for three years.
He said family obligations and the opportunity to be the resource officer brought him back to Bellefonte. Brower’s office will be off the main hallway at the high school, but “by no means is he just for the high school,” borough Police Chief Shawn Weaver said.
He will hold educational programs at Bellefonte Elementary School and Bellefonte Area Middle School. As requested and as time permits, Brower will be available to Benner, Marion-Walker and Pleasant Gap elementary schools in coordination with state and Spring Township police, Weaver said.
There are other tangible benefits to having a full-time school resource officer, he said.
“In the past, primarily daylight guys would handle all the incidents up there (at the high school). At times, there would be a detective, chief and two patrolmen at the school, handling multiple incidents,” Weaver said.
“That can really drain the resources, especially for more serious bomb threats and threats of violence.” According to the agreement under which the position was created, the district will reimburse the borough for 75 percent of the costs of the position and will pay any overtime Brower might have. During school breaks, Brower will patrol the borough.
In addition to threats of violence, typical incidents that draw police to the schools include assaults, fights and students bringing contraband to school.
“The hopes are to dissuade a lot of the incidents by the presence and building some rapport with the students, being quicker solving the crimes that do occur,” Brower said.
The school board first approved hiring its first-ever resource officer after a slew of incidents in 2006, including bomb threats, that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.
Initially, the job was approved as a part-time position, and now-retired Darrel Zaccagni had said publicly that he agreed to fill it.
He said he later changed his mind because he didn’t think he could devote the time for the pay it brought. He now works for the Centre County Sheriff’s Office as a guard at the courthouse.
Weaver, however, said Zaccagni wasn’t offered the job after all.
The part-time position was advertised statewide, but failed to attract qualified applicants. A borough committee eventually granted Weaver permission to explore a full-time position.
“Hopefully, having an officer there will help decrease some of the incidents. However, it is my feeling that our schools in the nation, in general, are much safer than they were 10 years ago,” Weaver said.
“... When I went to high school, you could walk in and out and not even be questioned. Now, all the doors are locked. They are much safer.”
Dena Pauling can be reached at 231-4619.