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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 27, 2005 Phoenix High School sophomore James Anderson talks with Phoenix police officer Gage Clark during a recent break in class. Clark is one of two new school resource officers in Jackson County. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Community resource: Phoenix and Eagle Point high schools work with school-based policing By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune The burly police officer with close-cropped hair moves through the busy hallways of Phoenix High School with something to prove — he wants to show teenagers that an officer can be a friend. Gage Clark is the first Phoenix police officer to serve at the high school, fulfilling a goal Principal Jani Hale and Police Chief Bob Kershaw had worked on for two years. He’s one of two new school resource officers in Jackson County, as the Eagle Point School District also hired its first officer, Rob Leonard, this fall. School-based policing is growing fast, reported the National Association of School Resource Officers, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that represents 9,000 police who work in schools. The Medford Police Department has placed officers in Medford’s middle and high schools since 1995 and its program has served as a model around the state, Lt. Tim George said. Advertisement "We have a commitment to the school district and the community to be involved in schools and with young people," he said. Hale had worked with Medford’s school resource officers as a vice principal at South Medford High School before becoming Phoenix High’s principal in 2003, and she wanted to have a similar program in her new school. Hale and Kershaw attended federally funded safe-schools training and sought grants to pay for a school resource officer. They didn’t get any grants, but a public-safety levy Phoenix voters passed in 2003 provided money for the department to hire one officer in 2004 and another this summer. "We’ve always worked closely with schools, but have never been in a position to have someone in the school full-time," Kershaw said. "With the public-safety levy hiring, we had plenty of coverage and were able to do this." Clark, who started as a Phoenix reserve officer in 1998 and was hired full time in 2001, volunteered for school duty. He followed his dad’s footsteps into law enforcement to show people that police aren’t just enforcing thugs. "We’re not meanies, but are good people," he said. "I enjoyed high school and like working with kids." Hale said she appreciates Clark’s quick wit and beefy arms, but his desire to help students is the most important quality he brings to the school. Clark handles school problems such as truancy, vandalism, theft and fights, and has had specialized training in stopping child abuse, sex crimes and bullying. But he also spent time just talking with kids like sophomore James Anderson, 16. "He’s a good guy," Anderson said. "You can go to him if you have problems." Anderson said a regular officer gives the halls a different feel than the security guard who was on duty last year. "People are quieter," he said. "There’s less chaos and less skipping. People do what they need to." Eagle Point Superintendent Bill Feusahrens had seen the success of a school resource officer in the district he headed near Twin Falls, Idaho, before coming to Eagle Point in 2003. "It can be a tremendous deterrent to crime," he said. "It’s not just to deter crimes, but to let kids know that police are there to help them, not harass them." Leonard, who was attracted to police work by good relationships with officers in Beaverton where he grew up, has been a police officer for eight years, four of them in Eagle Point. Now 35, he developed a rapport with kids while on patrol and volunteered to be stationed in the schools this year. The district will reimburse the city of Eagle Point that amount of Leonard’s salary for 176 days a year, and when school isn’t in session he will resume regular duty on the streets. So far this year, he’s dealt with bullying, fights, vandalism, thefts, a few drug cases and an incident involving a knife at school. Leonard said the police department is glad to have an officer at school for such issues and school officials have told him they like having the extra safety resource. He said the best measure of the program’s success, however, is an increasing number of kids who come into his office to talk about problems at school or home. 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