PARSIPPANY — The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills announces a comprehensive plan and partnership for safety between the Board of Education and the Township.
For the past 14 years, Student Resource Officers in both area high schools have met with much success.
Through the SRO program, officers have been valuable resources to school staff and have fostered positive relationships with students. They have been helpful in developing strategies to resolve problems and have led by example to promote a positive image of law enforcement officers.
Mayor James Barberio said, “To enhance the current SRO program, the position of Director of School Security has been created to coordinate and provide additional, experienced support in the schools. This appointment is being filled by Police Lt. Brian Dowd. This new position is another example of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department and Board of Education’s determination to support my commitment to improving the quality of life for Parsippany’s children.” Lt. Dowd will be available to the district 24 hours/a day, seven days a week. His job will be to supervise the SROs and any elementary school security personnel in addition to serving as liaison between the schools, the police department and the Youth Counselor. In addition, two patrol officers will become SROs and be will be housed in Central Middle School and Brooklawn Middle School.
These officers have been specially trained and will be integral participants in the elementary schools as well. A juvenile counselor has been added to the program to assist with family and juvenile matters. The strong message to students will be that they are in a safe environment with people who care about them and who are responsible for keeping them safe.
Council President Louis Valori stated “Parsippany-Troy Hills takes every precaution possible to protect our students and education staff members.”
“While our schools have safety plans in place — the SRO program will ensure school emergency response efforts are well coordinated among students, school officials and the police and departments. The SROs will be effective school-based partners for students, teachers and school support staff in enhancing security for everyone in our schools,” said Valori.
The wide range of responsibilities of the SRO’s will also include: investigations; assisting with bullying and harassment prevention; cyber-bullying; conflict resolution; mentoring; assisting students and families; education in the areas of drug abuse, social media; drivers ed.; programs to identify and manage students with behavioral issues before such students become involved with the criminal justice system; and the practice of safety drills.
“Our number one priority is our children. We are taking steps to maximize school safety and security by engaging in our shared services agreement with the Board of Education,” said Barberio.
Parsippany-Troy Hills is at the forefront and I take great pride in being the first such shared services agreement of this magnitude in the State. This could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of Council President, Dr. Louis Valori and Council members, Michael DePierro, Loretta Gragnani and Paul Carifi.
Mayor Barberio said “I also want to thank Dr. Leroy Seitz for his vision and support with this project along with Business Administrator, Dave Corso, the Board of Education including: President, Frank Neglia; Vice President Andy Choffo; Fran Orthwein; George Blair; Tim Berrios; Judy Mayer; Suzy Golderer, Allison Cogen and Joe Cistaro.”
Their roles were equally instrumental in getting this program up and running in the school system. By working together, we have achieved a wonderful thing for the students of Parsippany.”
