EC School Police Officers Strive To Promote Safety, Guidance For Students

This is Part One in a series featuring the Ellwood City School District Police Officers. Read Part Two tomorrow.

For the Ellwood City School Police Department officers keeping the students safe is the number one priority, but both see the job as more than just that.

Making a positive difference in the lives of youth is what the officers hope to do in their newly created roles in the Ellwood City Area School District.

With more than 20 years as a police officer, Brian Speer, said his most memorable incident as an officer was not “busting” a violent criminal. Speer said he happened to run into a woman who thanked him for changing the direction of her life. She was attending school for criminal justice and had plans to make a positive impact on her community.

“At that point I thought I had done my job,” Speers said. “We have a chance here to change the outcomes of people’s lives.”

This matters to Speer because he lives in the surrounding community in North Sewickley Township with his wife and three sons. He strives to see the community grow and someday be led by youth who have been guided toward positive action, who know how to face the issues that are stacked up against them these days, and who are able to find solutions to these issues and make the proper decisions for a better future.

Brad Koscinski, also an SRO in Ellwood City Schools, agrees.

“I am looking forward to building relationships with the students so they understand that police are people they can trust,” he said.

Koscinski offers 25 years of experience in law enforcement with the Pennsylvania State Police. He also served as a police officer for the Moniteau School District.

Speer is also not stranger to working in the school system. He was a School Resource Officer (SRO) previously in New Brighton where he served a five-year, dual role on the school police force and the borough police force. His other years in law enforcement included time as the police chief in Franklin Township and various other police jobs.

Although he enjoyed his time as an officer in the community, he found himself really missing the school system.

“I missed being an educator and a mentor,” Speer said.

That prompted Speer to apply for the SRO job in Ellwood City Schools, a job that he said so far has been busy and already rewarding.

“I have never been so accepted at any job I’ve ever worked in,” Speer said. “I don’t even know everyone’s name yet, but they are walking up to me, shaking my hand, and welcoming me immediately. That says a lot for this school district.”

One thing to realize about the officers is that they are not security guards. They are sworn in as officials of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which gives them the ability to arrest and issue citations for all types of violations.

Their experience, training, and knowledge is what makes them good candidates for the SRO program. In addition to the training and certification they already had to serve as armed officers, they also completed school resource officer training. That training provides the officer with the know how when it comes to school based social and legal issues. According to the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), the training program has three main areas of instruction:

• Function of Law Enforcement – Instruction on the differences between law enforcement when conducted inside a school environment.
• Mentoring Students – Instruction designed to provide tools to be a positive role model for youth, including informal counseling techniques.
• Guest Speaking – Instruction on a variety of instructional techniques as well as classroom management tools to provide law-related education to students.

The officers were implemented thanks to a $156,400 grant provided by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The grant will allow the district to employ the two officers for two years. John Sovich, vice principle at Lincoln and the school district’s security coordinator, along with Superintendent, Joseph Mancini, were instrumental in securing the grant.

One officer patrols the Lincoln High School site, which also includes Hartman Elementary. The other officer patrols both North Side and Perry schools. The officers serve during normal school hours. Other after school sports and activities are being covered by local police.