Officers in a class of their own

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- Police officer Andy Halpin recognizes most of the faces

he sees while walking around the Corona del Mar High School campus.

He knew some of the teenage boys when they had their first crush, when

their voices began to deepen and peach fuzz turned into splotches of

stubble.

Halpin is one of two police officers who will be patrollingschool grounds

over the next year. He and officer Steve Martinez have been named the

department’s school resource officers, who will enforce the law as much

as they will teach it on campus.

“We will be building a better rapport with students, parents and staff,”

Halpin said. “It’s also a way for students to see the human side of law

enforcement.”

One of the reasons Halpin was assigned to the newly created position was

his familiarity with the student population at Corona del Mar. Halpin was

the DARE instructor the past five years at Ensign Intermediate School, so

many of the high school students will know him from the drug-awareness

classes.

Halpin will move back and forth between Ensign and Corona del Mar four

days a week while Martinez will be stationed at Newport Harbor for the

same amount of time.

The program is a collaborative effort between the city and the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Each entity pledged $70,000 last

September to pay for the officers’ salaries and equipment.

Many high school students at Corona del Mar have seen police officers at

their respective campuses before, but not to this extent. Halpin said the

program will hopefully dispel the myth that police officers are targeting

teens.

“We want to break down that ‘us versus them’ mentality,” he said. “The

only time teens really talk with cops are when they get into trouble.

We’d like to change that and show them there are different aspects to our

job.”

Placing officers on school grounds is nothing new in the law enforcement

community. Some cities in Orange County have received positive feedback

for employing similar measures. Halpin said he walked the beat with a

Tustin officer at one of the schools and found that it takes some time

for students to warm up to the idea of a police officer’s constant

presence.

Besides walking around campus, the officers will lend a hand in the

classroom. They can inform students about the law in government classes,

offer motorist safety tips in driver education classes, and discuss the

pitfalls of drug and alcohol abuse in health courses.

“It’s a great benefit for students to have a police officer they can talk

to,” said Newport Harbor principal Bob Boies. “Here you have a

professional who knows a lot about various topics that are useful to

students. We see Steve [Martinez] as one of our faculty.”

Both police and school officials said the intent of the program is to

provide better interaction between students and officers as well as

enhancing campus safety.

After the Columbine shooting in Colorado, many school districts

reexamined their safety policies. Having officers on campus might not sit

well with the entire student body, but it may prevent some of the

delinquent behavior frequently demonstrated by teens.

“I think having an officer here will break down that sentiment that the

police department is out to get them,” said Don Martin, principal at

Corona del Mar. “The students will have the officer as a resource,

someone to talk to. It’s someone they didn’t have before.”