The vacant school resource officer position for the Innisfail RCMP has been filled.
Cst. Chris Lavery started working as a liaison between the RCMP and local schools in mid-September.
“I really like it,” he said.
“It's definitely a lot different from what I've been used to,” he said of his new duties. He worked as a general duty police officer for seven years, most of which he spent with the Canmore detachment before switching to Innisfail in June this year.
“It's been an eye-opener and it's been a fun time,” he said of his new role.
The school resource officer position is paid for by the Town of Innisfail, and Lavery keeps an office at the Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School.
His duties range from patrolling school zones to make sure students are getting to and from school safely to in-classroom work.
“I teach DARE,” he said. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education and is aimed at middle school students. Currently Lavery is teaching the course at École Innisfail Middle School and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School.
He gives talks on bullying, theft and plans on chatting to students about impaired driving as the holiday season approaches.
“Any kind of talks that any of the schools need,” he said.
A lot of the work of a school resource officer is preventive, he said. It's also about having a police officer that students see as more than just a uniform and feel comfortable approaching.
“Someone they can come to when they need help,” he said.
To that end, Lavery has gotten involved in some after-school activities.
“I've started a drop-in basketball (session) at the high school,” he said. So far he's had pretty good turnout, he said.
The trained RCMP sketch artist has also been asked to take on the art club at École Innisfail Middle School since it no longer had a teacher to facilitate it.
“We're running the art club,” he said.
Hailing from Thunder Bay, Ont., Lavery hadn't encountered the school resource officer program before.
“The fact that they have this I think is fantastic,” he said.
Cpl. A.J. Mand said the feedback from schools so far on Lavery's work is positive.
“Not everybody can do the SRO program. It takes a special person to be able to work with the kids,” Mand said, adding that Lavery is “a really great choice” for the role.
