Police officers added to security team

During her seventh-grade year at Founders' Hall in the in the McKeesport Area School District, Lynsey Harrison was accustomed to seeing security guards in the building.

The new school year has brought an addition to the security staff at Founders' Hall -- a uniformed McKeesport police officer.

"I think in a way it was needed," said Lynsey, now an eighth-grader.

The increased security is a result of a partnership between the school district and the city of McKeesport. The district's staff of five security guards has been beefed up with the addition of three uniformed McKeesport police officers. Two of the officers are stationed at the high school, and one is at Founders' Hall, which houses the district's seventh- and eighth-graders.

District security personnel are at Cornell and McClure middle schools, too.

Michael Brinkos, the district's director of personnel and pupil services, said the increase in security wasn't a result of any specific incident or incidents in the schools. Rather, the district-city partnership was recommended by the Safe Schools Committee consisting of school and city personnel.

"The experience and training of professional officers will be invaluable in the event of an emergency," Brinkos said.

He said in addition to providing security, the officers will be role models for students.

"It is our aim, through these security measures, to develop a student-officer rapport to extend from the schools throughout the community," Brinkos said. "The students will get to know them (the officers) as people."

The officers, like the security personnel, patrol the halls. The officers are expected to be visible in the buildings and in the community.

Harrison said the security personnel and the officers keep the students moving through the halls and on to their classes.

The district's security budget is $167,000, Brinkos said. The officers were added with no additional cost to the district or the city, he said. Officers working for the police department have been assigned to the schools, he said.