School resource

Police officers on campuses, called school resource officers, contribute to the safety and security of the school community. Newport Beach Police Officer Vlad Anderson knows nearly everyone at Corona del Mar High School: The cooks in the cafeteria, the administration and, of course, the students. Anderson knows what’s up.

As one of the school resource officers assigned to local campuses, it’s his job to know what’s going on at school. Anderson is one of four resource officers who work in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The officers spend their days on campus, interacting with students and stopping problems before they start.

“It’s another set of eyes and ears for sure,” said Corona del Mar High School Principal Fal Asrani. “I believe that he is an additional piece to safety and security.”

In addition to working on campus, the officers are also present at after-school activities, such as sports games.

Anderson splits his time between Corona del Mar High School and Ensign Intermediate School. There, his main objective is to connect with the students. He often sits in on counseling sessions with at-risk kids and teaches students about law enforcement and justice.

“On the streets, we interact with people to solve problems -- here we do the same thing,” Anderson said.

Caitlin May, 18, a senior at Corona del Mar High School, has worked closely with Anderson in planning for the Every 15 Minutes program, a drunk driving prevention stimulation exercise.

“It’s nice because he provides a lot of resources that we wouldn’t have if we didn’t have an officer on campus,” May said.

Anderson is joined by fellow Newport Beach police officer Steve Martinez, who works at Newport Harbor High School. In Costa Mesa, Officers Ron Stone and Jess Gilman work at Costa Mesa High School and Estancia High School.

The school resource officer program went into effect in Newport-Mesa Unified School District in 2000. The salaries for the officers are split between the school district and the police departments, said district spokeswoman Jane Garland.

Students and parents seem to respond well to having the officers on campus.

“I think parents feel that it’s a nice deterrent to anything happening,” Garland said.20051217irm940ncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport police officer and school resource officer Vlad Anderson talks with Ally Canepa at Corona del Mar High School.