School Resource Officers compare notes at Sullivan West

Posted 8/21/12

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — How bad is the heroin problem in Sullivan County? It’s everywhere, according to two school resource officers (SRO) who cover the county from one end to the other.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

School Resource Officers compare notes at Sullivan West

Posted

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — How bad is the heroin problem in Sullivan County? It’s everywhere, according to two school resource officers (SRO) who cover the county from one end to the other.

Sullivan County Sheriff’s Deputies Jack Harb and Anthony Dos Santos visited 12th-grade participation-in-government classes at Sullivan West High School on January 11. The classes have been studying the issue of heroin addiction and recovery since October, working alongside WJFF’s Kingfisher Project.

“Educating students,” said Harb, when asked what can be done about the addiction epidemic.

Harb has been getting to know the kids at Sullivan West since September. The Sullivan West school district stretches up to Long Eddy and beyond the western boundary of the county. Deputy Dos Santos is the SRO for Monticello’s elementary schools, which includes students in the Wurtsboro area, 30 miles to the east.

His daughter, Elizabeth Dos Santos, is one of the seniors in the Sullivan West class and helped organize the unique discussion with the two officers. The deputies used a PowerPoint presentation that included grim photos of addicts’ abscess-pocked arms to drive home the fact of how dangerous substance abuse can be.

The statistics they presented were eye-opening, too. Between 2012 and 2014, the number of drug overdose deaths in Sullivan County doubled. In addition to talking about the drug addiction problem, the deputies fielded a question about what it’s like to be a police officer these days, given all the controversy about law enforcement that is in the news.

Despite the challenges, both officers said they like their jobs and really enjoy being in the county schools.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here