Shaw named SRO for Rowe School

NORWAY — Mitch Shaw, a veteran of the Norway Police Department, has been named school resource officer at the Rowe Elementary School.

He will begin his new full-time duties at the school on January 4, Police Chief Rob Federico said Tuesday.

“I can’t wait to get this started and see how it goes,” said Federico, who narrowed the field of six candidates down to three. The three candidates were then interviewed by two Rowe Elementary School classroom teachers, Assistant Principal Donald Thorne and Principal Dan Hart. The remaining two candidates were interviewed by a panel of School Board of Directors, Hart, Federico and Superintendent Rick Colpitts for the final choice.

Federico said the initial field of six were both local candidates and from across Maine.

Shaw, 34, a graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a major in psychology and minor in criminology, lives in South Paris with his wife and two children. He joined the Norway police Department several years ago after serving with a department in Colorado.

In October, a majority of SAD 17 directors agreed to move forward with a plan to place a school resource officer in the Guy E. Rowe Elementary School in Norway. The position will be paid with a $125,000 grant the Norway Police Department received from the Office of Community Oriented Police Services, or COPS, in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Oxford Hills Comprehensive High and Oxford Hills Middle schools, both in Paris, have a school resource officer. The policy applies to those two schools and the Rowe school.

The Police Department received a $125,000 grant from the Office of Community Oriented Police Services, or COPS, a component within the U.S. Department of Justice dedicated to community policing.

Under the terms of the grant, the town will pay 10 percent of the cost for the position for the first year, 30 percent the second year and 60 percent the third year. At that time, the town will be responsible for 100 percent of the costs if it continues the program. The total local share is $65,000.

Shaw will be in uniform and carry a gun as a police officer, but his role in the school is to act as a “mentor” and build relationships with young children and act as a contact for staff and parents. Federico said previously that the idea behind the SRO at the elementary school, he said is to gain students’ trust and ward off future trouble.

“I am excited. It’s very rare in this day and age to add a staff member. This grant will help us be proactive,” Hart said.

Hart said the SRO will work in four general areas ranging from building relationships with students and the school community-at-large to serving on the school safety committee, being a visible presence during the morning and afternoon bus runs, helping with bullying and harassment education, school, security and safety, conflict resolution and much more.

“I think it’s definitely good news to have an SRO officer in your school. We have challenges like any school but we also have celebrations like any school. We want to build relationships and we want to do that with young students,” he said.

Shaw will meet with the school staff this week and with parents after the holidays.

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