May 24, 2023
Summer shift
Around Town
Highway Department projects underway. Pg. 4
Healthy Living The use of robotic surgery for the spine. Pg. 5
Flip for Features
Recipe, Movie & Sudoku. Pg. F-1 CLASSIFIEDS AND HOME & GARDEN. Pg. F-2 /F-3 Photo provided by FHSD
Hollenbeck Middle School’s Brandi Woodby talks with students.
St. Charles County Police Department School Resource Officers change roles towards community outreach during summer vacation By Brett Auten Inside St. Charles County Police Department’s Nicholas Clark’s squad car, it isn’t what you’d expect. “I just filled my trunk up with gift bags and stickers, and a bunch of bubbles,” he said. Clark is one of 23 School Resource Officers of the St. Charles County Police Department who are turning their concentration toward heightening safety and public outreach in other parts of the community. For about a month in the summer, several SROs still will be making the rounds for summer school classes in area schools. Outside that time, SROs will transition into patrols at the St. Charles County Parks Department’s 18 parks, providing a proactive presence during
the busiest season of the year. “I think it is a great way to utilize us,” Clark said. “When you have a group of officers who have a passion for working with the youth and making a difference, what better thing to do with them in the summer?” Also, SRO Supervisor Sergeant Chance Mallett said with a significant uptick in visitors and activity in the parks, officers want to discourage people from tampering with unattended vehicles or engaging in other bad behavior. “If there is a patrol car driving around or an officer visibly at the park, the people who are up to no good will think twice before breaking a car window or anything like that. It’s an important deterrence,” Mallett said. Summer is also the time when SROs sched-
ule annual training, with one concentrated week of exercises where they renew skills related to firearms, first aid, and specialized equipment. Separately, the officers instruct school staff in active threat training often referred to as “4E” – Educate, Escape, Evade and Engage – which has become an increasingly important part of the SROs’ school safety mission. During the 2022-2023 school year, St. Charles County expanded its SRO staff, which previously only included nine officers stationed at high schools and middle schools, but not elementary schools. Using funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the police department See ’SUMMER’ page 2
Serving St. Louis, St. Charles and Lincoln Counties | FREE Online at mycnews.com | Vol. 25 No. 21 | 636-379-1775
Moore On Life, Lifestyle & Crossword. Pg. F-4
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