School Resource Officers Serve As Mentors For Barnegat Students

BARNEGAT, NJ — School resource officers are on the front lines in nearly 2,500 schools across New Jersey. In Barnegat, these officers are keeping students safe and are also helping them deal with an array of issues from anxiety to academic fatigue.

School resource officers (SROs) and retired police veterans – or Class 3 Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEOs) – who schools hire for extra security – are required to take a state-approved 40-hour course about safety precautions, threat assessment, active shooters, counter-terrorism tactics, anti-bullying, searches and seizures.

Training also strongly emphasizes ways for SROs to be positive adult role models, with a wealth of instruction about assessing behaviors and identifying at-risk kids, teaching methods, mentoring and teamwork. Curriculum updates are now underway to better prepare SROs to intercede with students who face adverse childhood experiences.

“Educators, especially now, need all the help we can get,” said Superintendent Brian Latwis in a news release, noting that more students have returned to school full-time with issues that range from anxiety to “academic fatigue, because they (are) no longer accustom to eight-hour school days.”

Latwis said Patrolman Brian Weber and the district's other two Class 3 officers are “valuable partners with our guidance counselors and teaching staff. They really get to know our kids, that helps these officers be better mentors, relieve (student) concerns, and calmly, casually de-escalate situations.”

“Part of my job is certainly to recognize any potential (school) threats, to respond to crisis situations, and to deal with criminal activity,” said Weber, a 14-year police veteran now in his third year as Barnegat’s SRO.

“My larger role is to help students feel comfortable and earn their trust as a positive role model who genuinely cares about them,” Weber said. “Hopefully, I am also changing any misconception they may have about law enforcement and police officers.”

Weber has noticed that some students are uneasy or have “other challenges” since returning to school.

“School provide kids with structure. After months of virtual learning from home, more (students) have trouble focusing in class for 50 minutes,” Weber said. “It’s not a police matter, but it’s something I talk about with them. Hopefully, I can help.”

Two other retired police veterans work closely with Weber, but those two officers work for the school district, while Weber works for the police department.

Weber has received over 40 hours of intensive training designed for SROs at a state police academy, according to Police Chief Keith Germain. This SRO training is required, approved and administered by the New Jersey Police Training Commission.

Weber has also received extensive in-service training in many aspects of law enforcement, which prove very useful in his current duties, Germain said.

New Jersey was among the first states to enact mandatory SRO training, according to the New Jersey Association of Chiefs of Police (NJSACOP).

John Zebrowski, president of NJSACOP, said the role of school resource officers must continue to evolve.

“Working with faculty at their schools, SROs are well-equipped with communication, teaching and mentoring skills to help troubled youngsters overcome reticence and trepidation about wearing masks and staying socially-distant as they re-socialize with classmates and teachers,” Zebrowski said. “We want SROs to be the key in-school resource during this difficult transition back to school.”

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