Angela Mac and Avi Shapira
LAYOUT EDITOR / EDITOR IN CHIEF
Andover High School has welcomed Thomas Paolera to serve as school resource officer (SRO) this school year.
The purpose of the SRO is to make AHS a safer place, mostly in terms of who is leaving and entering the building. In the past few decades, school shootings have become a more common occurrence, and this danger has been on everyone’s minds since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas at the end of the last school year.
Many students interviewed wondered what the SRO does most days. Students have noticed Paolera around in the mornings or during lunch. The purpose of that is to give students an opportunity to talk to him if they have concerns and to get comfortable having him around.
The SRO at AHS is not supposed to be involved in everyday disciplinary matters. “If we had an emergency, which was something that was beyond our control, he would help out with that,” said Principal Caitlin Brown. Having a police officer on campus would mean a quick response time in case of emergency.
Paolera is also hoping to improve security features at AHS. “I just hope to bring a feel of safety and security to students and staff,” he said. “I hope I can make kids who are worried about that feel safer in their mind.”
However, many students believe that police officers do not make school a safer place. “America has a very large history of police brutality and there’s also the school to prison pipeline… so it makes me a little bit less than happy to see [an SRO in our school],” said junior Jarmo Latva-Kokko. According to the National Library of Medicine, which is operated by the US government, 36% of unarmed people killed by police 2015-2020 were Black despite Black people making up 13% of the US population, and Black men have a 1/1000 chance of being killed by police in their lifetime. In schools, Black students make up 31% of school-related arrests, according to the ACLU. A police officer at AHS can make the school feel like a less safe environment for some.
There is also history of police officers causing harm in schools. In 2021, a teenager in Florida was slammed to the ground by an SRO and suffered a concussion. In 2019 another Florida SRO arrested a six-year-old. Florida mandates having SROs in schools, just as Massachusetts previously did. While these are extreme incidents, events like these are why some students feel uncomfortable with SROs in schools.
Paolera is aware of these problems, and he hopes to “improve the relationship between students here and police.” He added, “I like to meet people, especially if they’ve had poor experiences with police, or they’ve had no experience with the police. So they can get to know me as a person… I want to encourage more people to come and talk to me.”
AHS used to have an SRO before the COVID-19 pandemic. Once COVID hit, both the school district and the police department were understaffed, and the school was remote or hybrid for over a year. “Our focus was COVID,” said Brown.
In the summer of 2020 there were also nationwide Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd. These protests targeted police departments, including police in schools. A year later, Massachusetts passed a police reform bill that ended a state-wide mandate for all schools to have SROs and instead left the choice up to individual schools. Now that COVID-related restrictions have loosened in schools, the school administration and the superintendent’s office have had the opportunity to consider bringing back the SRO.
Before making the decision to re-appoint an SRO, the administration held focus groups with students and families to take into consideration the community’s thoughts and feelings. There will also be groups held in October and November to get student feedback on the SRO. So far, students have voiced mixed reactions about having a police officer in school.
Some students feel that the SRO makes the school safer. “Having them around is kind of like an extra layer of security,” said freshman Eva Nguyen.
Other students had a different opinion. “I understand that it is for safety,” said Latva-Kokko. Due to the track record of policing in the U.S. mentioned above, “it almost feels like we’re putting police in the school to police students,” stated Latva-Kokko.
Some people interviewed had previously attended schools with police officers. Science teacher Ralph Bledsoe attended a high school where there were often fights between students, and sometimes kids brought guns to school. “When I was growing up,” he said, “actual danger popped up… [it’s good to have] police officers ready to handle it.”
Ace Silva, a sophomore, previously attended a school in Kentucky that had a police officer for a short time. “They had a police officer there for like a week and then a kid grabbed his gun,” said Silva. “This actually isn’t helping. It’s harming us more.”
When deciding whether or not to hire an SRO, the school was aware of the potential that a police officer will make students feel unsafe, according to Brown. In the end, it was decided to hire him because “I want to make sure that I’m protecting all of you,” said Brown.
Brown stressed the importance of student feedback. “Your voice is very important to me,” she said. If you have further comments on the SRO, you can contact ANDOVERVIEW at andoverview@andoverma.us, and you can contact Principal Brown at caitlin.brown@andoverma.us.
Q&A with Officer Paolera
What is your daily routine?
“I’m still kind of developing what I do. I like to be in front of the school when kids are coming in [and] during the last half an hour. I’m sure you’ve seen me in the lunches… I’m working on some added security features, but mainly still learning day operations. Making sure everyone’s following safety procedures… I’m going to try to be involved in all the school drives and stuff like that in the future… I wasn’t placed in here to start charging everybody. That’s not my main function.”
Why did you become a police officer?
“It was something I always wanted to do in high school. I went to college to major in criminal justice, started taking police exams and stuff like that… I like talking to people, I like helping people. Right off the bat I just knew an office life wasn’t for me. I wanted to be dealing with people’s problems and helping people.”
Why did you want to become a school resource officer?
“I’ve coached youth wrestling for a couple of years [at] the youth center… Now I get to meet way more kids. I love the environment. It’s fun. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. I get [to work with students] and I get to be a police officer too.”
Why did you want to work at AHS?
“I went to school here. Graduated [in] 2008. I worked at Harvard University security for five years. I really enjoyed working security on a school campus, [it] has a good energy to it. Kids are usually fun to work with.”
How long have you been working at the Andover Police Department?
“About four years.”
How is working at AHS so far?
“Great. I love it. I met a lot of people. I was able to get this window open [the window to the SRO’s office, which was previously covered by a bulletin board] so I’m going to be more visible. When I’m actually in the office, I like to leave it open so kids can pop in and say hi.”
Sources:
Mass. Changes Rules On Police In Schools As Boston Weighs Options (wgbh.org)
New Massachusetts Law Paves the Way for Police-Free Schools – The Appeal
