School Resource Officer

 

Detective Derek Cathcart is the Acushnet Police Department School Resource Officer assigned to Ford Middle School.

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The SRO program has been highly successful.  The SRO works proactively by conducting anti-bullying and alcohol and drug use prevention programs. He provides security at the middle school and develops and updates crises management plans for the school. The SRO is trained to recognize signs of home violence in students.

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The SRO program is the one program that allows us to work proactively with youth in an attempt to stop unsatisfactory behavior before it reaches the need for criminal sanctions.

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S.R.O. Activities

• Provide daily security in the Middle School

• Provide a forum for school and police officials to share information and explore avenues for troubled youths

• Intervene to break up fights between students

• Remove unruly or out of control students

• Investigate harassment and bullying complaints brought by administration, students and parents

• Investigate drug cases in school

• Develop and periodically update school crises and emergency plans

• Perform criminal investigations of crimes committed in school or reported to school personnel by students

• Give students a less intimidating avenue in which they can come and speak with a police officer in his office at school

• Participate in crises management team and student services support team

• Introduce anti-bullying program

• Conduct residency investigations

• Monitor students who have been involved in domestic violence including monitoring compliance with court issued domestic violence restraining orders