Aberdeen Middle opens new year with a school resource officer on campus

With the start of the 2016-17 school year in Harford County on Thursday, Aberdeen Middle has a full-time school resource officer assigned to the school for the first time.The SRO is a member of the Aberdeen Police Department and has been working at the school during the summer vacation, Chief Henry Trabert said. He reported on the assignment during Monday's city council meeting.The new middle school SRO position, at a cost of approximately $90,000 for salary, equipment and benefits, was funded in the 2017 budget the city council passed this spring that took effect July 1. In presenting the budget to the council, Mayor Patrick McGrady said he felt it was important to add the position after some incidents reported at the school last year required police to respond and later prompted council members to call for a full-time police presence.&quot;The principal, teachers and community made a high priority of a School Resource Officer in order to make everybody feel more safe and secure,&quot; McGrady said via email on Tuesday, denying that the prior issues at the school were related to gangs or a widespread discipline issue.&quot;We all felt the need for a positive force for discipline at the school, and having Aberdeen Police eyes on the ground there will be useful in sharing observations between in-school and out-of-school police work,&quot; he said.The Aberdeen Police Department also has an SRO assigned to Aberdeen High, while the Harford County Sheriff's Office has an SRO assigned to the alternative education program held at the Center for Educational Opportunity, which is next door to Aberdeen High.Harford's school resource officers are either assigned by the Sheriff's Office or one of the municipal police departments, if the school is within their jurisdiction. A few years ago, Havre de Grace's mayor and city council decided to deploy an SRO in the high school, the middle school and both elementary schools in the city.For the new school year, 16 SROs are assigned at schools around the county, according to Jillian Lader, Harford County Public Schools Manager of Communications.In addition to the three Aberdeen schools, there is an SRO at Bel Air High, C. Milton Wright High, Edgewood High, Edgewood Middle, Fallston High/Middle, Harford Technical High/Southampton Middle, Havre de Grace High, Havre de Grace Middle, Havre de Grace Elementary, Meadowvale Elementary, North Harford High/Middle, Patterson Mill High/Middle and Joppatowne High/Magnolia Middle.&quot;SROs are intricate partners within the school system,&quot; HCPS Director of Security Bob Benedetto said in an emailed statement. &quot;In addition to performing their law enforcement responsibilities, they engage with students by providing instructional information in a classroom setting on a variety of topics; from effects and consequences of drugs on the body to forensics science.&quot;&quot;They teach the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program to elementary students and have established clubs within the high schools,&quot; he continued. &quot;This provides students an opportunity to interact with the SROs on a positive note.&quot;

Aberdeen Middle opens new year with a school resource officer on campus

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