Program has assisted students, parents, and school staff for three years

School resource officer (SRO) Matt Bisson of the Rogers City Police Department is used to attending meetings and making presentations. Since the inception of the SRO program in the Rogers City Area Schools in the fall of 2001, he has given more than 100 presentations and attended more than 110 meetings with parents, school staff, and students.

Bisson added yet another presentation and meeting to his list of statistics when he appeared before members of the Rogers City Council March 15 to detail his activities from the last two-and-a-half years. ?He (Bisson) represents the city in the highest of standards,? said chief Matt Quaine, introducing the officer. The program, which is funded by the city, school district, and several grant sources, places a uniformed officer in the three public school buildings in Rogers City, as well as St. John and St. Ignatius schools.

BISSON?S PRESENTATIONS in the schools can vary. He could be discussing a program about Halloween safety to kindergartners in the morning or be talking about the problems associated with drug and alcohol use to seniors in the afternoon. ?I really like doing the presentations with the students,? Bisson said. ?I have a lot of fun doing it.? Bisson told council he makes himself available to assist parents, school staff, and students about problems at school or at home. He said much of the work he does is non-criminal in nature as opposed to the regular officer on the street, who deals with criminal activity. ?I do wear my uniform in the schools, which some school resource officers don?t. I do. I think it?s a benefit to my job,? said Bisson. Bisson has been asked by people if there is a need for a police officer in the schools. He relates a story he heard from a fellow SRO in another district.

?AT THIS TRAINING school for school resource officers, one of the school resource officers there said, people were coming up to him when the program was just starting and asking ?why should you be in our school?? ?He simply said ?I can be out working road patrol and guard your TV and VCRs while you are at work or I can protect your kids at school.? That pretty much ended their questions. It?s a good way of putting it.? As the program has grown, so has the awareness. More parents than ever are calling Bisson to discuss problems they are having with a student at home, and searching for possible solutions. ?We all know the problems at home generally lead to problems they are going to have at school,? said Bisson. Students also are learning to trust the SRO in Rogers City.

SINCE BISSON started his post October 2001, there have been four students threaten to kill themselves, two of which came directly to Bisso

n to tell him of their intentions. ?I transported all but one of the students to Pointe East (Center for Mental Health, Alpena) to be evaluated,? said Bisson. ?I had one student who wanted me there throughout the whole meeting while they were being evaluated.? In 2003, the behavioral problems in school were listed as the highest statistic at 27 incidents. That was followed by a miscellaneous category called ?other,? with 21. Next was assault with 14 incidents, which can be fights between students, up from 11 in 2002. Bisson believes his presence in the halls and on the grounds of the schools keeps that stat down.

?THERE ARE a lot of issues that go around the school,? said Bisson. ?Dating relationships that break up. Somebody is dating someone else and they get upset.? According to the statistics, Bisson attended 13 special events the first two years, which increased to 28 last year. ?Most of the credit with the school resource officer program, the success that it has had, goes to officer Matt Bisson,? said Quaine. ?He was kind of handed the keys to the car and told, ?develop a program and make it work.? Well, he?s done an outstanding job with it.?