Officials said the officer would help school safety, as well as identify at-risk-students before an act of violence can occur.
Mt. Laurel Township has officially dedicated a second School Resource Officer to help increase security for Mt. Laurel schools.
Officials from the school district and township used a portion of this week’s township council meeting to praise the addition of the second SRO, which officials said would help the district address issues of school safety, as well as identify at-risk students before an act of violence can occur.
According to officials, Mt. Laurel Police Officer David Sweely, a 19-year veteran of the force, will be the new SRO.
Sweely will work with Officer Lester Hann, the district’s current SRO who has been with the township police department for 10 years.
Superintendent George Rafferty said the district is constantly looking for ways to improve school security throughout each school year, and he was thankful when township officials recently reached out to the district asking how the township could help.
“I appreciate the fact that not only did they want to help, but they wanted to help us in a way that was beneficial to us…we would never be able to do this as a school system on our own without their generosity,” Rafferty said.
In addition to providing security, Rafferty said the district’s SROs can work in an educational capacity by developing relationships with parents and students.
Rafferty said the township’s addition of the new SRO was indicative of the “wonderful township” made possible by Mt. Laurel’s residents, parents, students, seniors, voters and officials.
“Having a great relationship between the township and the school district just enhances the community all around,” Rafferty said. “Again, I wanted to come tonight on behalf of the Board of Education and behalf of the schools to thank you for thinking of us,”
Mayor Rich Van Noord also praised the addition of the new SRO, noting the district could use the second officer due to the size of the district and the thousands of students enrolled.
With that in mind, Van Noord thanked Rafferty and the district for being so receptive to the idea of an additional SRO.
“We were happy to be part of it, and we know the concerns of parents,” Van Noord said. “I think the second resource officer is going to do a great service to the students of the township, because we know the key to making sure incidents don’t happen in the future is to identify the threats before they even exist.”
Township and district officials also praised all members of the police department, many of whom officials said will even stop by schools during their breaks to have lunch with students or play games during recess.
In those ways and others, Rafferty said the district and department communicate on a daily basis.
“I think the communication between the police department and our schools is tremendous and really sets us apart, and I think that enables us to really be preventative and proactive to try to prevent issues in the future should they come,” Rafferty said.
