Police now in all Washington Township schools; what that means for students and staff
WASHINGTON TWP. — School-based security hit a new level this September as all 11 township schools opened with a police officer permanently on site, a feat possible thanks to recent hirings and a new agreement with township government.
Township and school district officials celebrated what one termed a “landmark” at a news conference Tuesday morning outside Washington Township High School on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road. The high school, one of the largest in the state, now has two officers assigned.
“There’s nothing more important as a police administrator than the 9,000 students and staff in our schools from September through the month of June,” police Chief Patrick Gurcsik said. “So, that’s how important it is to us. It’s our number one priority.”
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The department this year hired five officers to supplement “school resource officers” already posted to local public schools. The new hires mean some officers no longer need to be “floaters” who move among sites as needed.
After the May 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and a disastrous showing by police there, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office directed an increase in police presence in schools.
Gurcsik, who took over the department in 2017, said Washington already had a strong in-school presence last year as well as other security features like perimeter patrols. But a police presence should be more than just directed at stopping outside threats, he said.
“These officers, they’re models to these children at such a young age,” he said. “And they’re mentors. So, when we chose these officers — there’s 14 total — it was about picking the right officers, with the right demeanor, that are here for the right reason. And that’s to work with these kids and become mentors and part of the fabric of the school community here.”
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Officer Tom DiTullio, assigned to Bells Elementary School, has had two tours as a school-based officer. He now is in year five as one after un-retiring. And while with the department before retiring, he was assigned for a decade to the high school.
“And it’s not an adversarial situation,” DiTullio said. “It’s friendly. We come in their classrooms. We read books to them. But, yet, if something goes wrong in different schools, and it has a number of times over the years, where the police presence was needed, we’re seconds away, not minutes. Literally, steps away, not minutes.”
Officer Christine Schmidt, hired after retiring from the Evesham Township police force, also has her own children in Washington Township schools. She is assigned to Orchard Valley Middle School.
Schmidt last year was a “floater,” which took her into contact with a lot of parents at a lot of schools, she said.
“And each of them were appreciative of our presence in all of the schools,” she said. “So, it’s a good bond to have.”
District Superintendent Eric Hibbs said he would like to see the new shared services agreement be permanent. He said the district, besides on-site police, also pays attention to making the facility harder to enter without permission.
“You can’t just get into our buildings,” Hibbs said. “So, I think that every year we look at security and see what we can do to add extra layers.”
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: School police coverage now 100 percent in Washington Township
