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BY MICHAEL OLOHAN
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
DEMAREST, N.J.—It was his first day at school at Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest Oct. 1 and Demarest Police Officer Don Cho—the new School Resource Officer—was ready to assist students, faculty and parents.
Cho, an officer for three years with Demarest Police Department, completed a one-week training course for school resource officers that provides guidance on interacting with teenagers and school staff while also serving as frontline security for the regional high school.
“The most important piece of this is the rapport that Officer Cho develops with students and staff and that obviously builds trust,” said Police Chief James Powderley, who joined Cho, Northern Valley Regional District Superintendent James Santana, and Principal Timothy Gouraige during Cho’s first day on the job.
Beginning in 2001, Demarest Police received a two-year federal Department of Justice grant that provided funding for a school resource officer for two years and the borough continued the funding until 2012, when a state-imposed 2 percent municipal budget cap increase led to disbanding the program.
“I’m happy to have the officer back,” said Santana. “It’s a great way for our kids to get to know law enforcement from a community policing perspective,” he said.
Santana said with a school resource officer there, students learn that the police “are human and they’re here to help.”
Gouraige said having a school resource officer is important to ensure students’ safety and for the relationships that can be built between students and the police department. Officer Cho “can be a great conduit” between the school and police “and it’s great to have him back,” said Gouraige.
From previous assignments as a special officer at the school, Gouraige noted that Cho is “familiar with our school and we couldn’t be happier that he’s coming back. He’s a great person who we think will get along well with our students.”
For the last five years, the regional school has had a special police officer stationed at a front desk who monitors the comings and goings of students and staff to prevent unlawful entry.
As part of an interlocal agreement, the Northern Valley Regional High School District agreed to fund one new police department hire as long as the school resource program is in place, said Powderley.
The new hire is a backfill for Officer Cho, who remains on duty five days a week at the regional high school.
“I think the biggest thing is to hit the ground running,” said Cho, standing with local officials outside the high school. “But the most important thing is to build a relationship with the kids, gaining their trust and seeing where their needs are and seeing where I can step in.”
Cho said while he represents law enforcement, he hopes that he can be a mentor to students in need and help others dealing with personal or social issues.
Powderley said while the number one priority for Cho is working with students and providing security, he said Cho’s daily presence will provide high school students with a friendly law enforcement officer who can assist with a range of issues such as student smoking, school fights, bullying, car vandalism and student assaults.
“I’m going to be a bridge between the police department, community and the school,” said Cho.
Cho said he hoped to possibly provide classes on issues such as bullying, vaping and social media, plus arranging speakers and events to help students better manage social and peer challenges.
(Photo by Michael Olohan)
His daily presence watching students, staff, and school-related activities will allow Cho to be “proactive in seeing things that don’t look right or normal” and addressing them before a problem develops, said Powderley.
The Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest enrolls about 990 students from Demarest, Haworth, Closter and Harrington Park.
The Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan enrolls 1,186 students from Northvale, Old Tappan, Rockleigh and Norwood.
“We are adding two Class III officers who will have most of the school resource officer [SRO] training at NVOT. The Old Tappan Police Department and municipal officials have been great as we look to add armed officers at that campus. We also added a shared officer to our ICS campus in Norwood. We will evaluate which approach works best,” said Santana via email.
“He’s really the resource for the school community and by his presence there he can better identify the needs himself. In prior years, this connection to the school community has been tremendous,” said Powderley. “The School Resource Officer is not there to be an enforcer or investigator but rather a resource and to be approachable by all staff and students.”
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