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March
9, 2017 30th Anniversary The
Yarmouth Police and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School School
Resource Officer Program March
9, 1987-March 9, 2017 On Friday March 6, 1987 Yarmouth Police Officer
Steven Xiarhos finished his last evening shift
patrol and on Monday morning, March 9th he made history when he assumed his
new post as the first school resource officer (SRO) in Dennis-Yarmouth
Regional High School. March 9, 2017 marked the 30th anniversary of the
partnership between the Yarmouth Police Department and the Dennis-Yarmouth
Regional School District. That new program founded in 1987 would grow over
the next three decades into the longest running program in Southeastern
Massachusetts and has expanded to include other schools in the district and
serves as a model to other communities trying to establish their own program. The SRO program was designed around a format used
in the Sandwich public schools. In the mid-1970’s officer Mike Miller, who
retired at the rank of Chief of Police in Sandwich, was serving full time in
the high school. The Sandwich program lasted about a decade before being
canceled in the mid-eighties. At that time the Yarmouth Police Department
under Chief Robert Chapman was exploring new ways to address issues at
Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School. Michael Almonte,
who also retired at the rank of Chief of Police in Yarmouth, was then a
Detective Sergeant assigned to work with the school on finding solutions. The
initial focus of the discussion was to introduce an undercover officer into
the high school. Principal Curtis Collins had served at Sandwich High as an
assistant principal before coming to D-Y. He had worked with Mike Miller and
seen first-hand the effectiveness of a school based police officer and he and
Sergeant Almonte proposed the idea to Chief Chapman
and Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Michael McCaffrey. The idea was not an
easy sell, particularly to the community. There was resistance to having
police in the school but all involved in the effort saw that the benefits
could be great and hoped that the resistance would be short lived. The position was designed as a half-time post at
the school, twenty scheduled hours per week, or five half-days. The other
half of the time would be spent following up on criminal investigations.
Steven Xiarhos was selected from a field of
applicants by a joint panel of school and police leaders. His new assignment
gave him the title of detective and had him transferred from patrol to that
division. A cost sharing arrangement was set up where the school district
would pay for the officer’s time assigned to the school. Xiarhos’
work was cut out for him. There was no special training or any predecessor
from whom he could get advice. The trail was his to blaze. He called Mike
Miller. The two spent some time together and Miller, now reassigned to other
duties at Sandwich PD, leant some timely guidance from his considerable
experience. The Yarmouth program ran successfully for several
years, building the confidence of the community inside and outside the
school. “Officer X” developed a
rapport with the students and a relationship with the faculty that allowed
him to earn trust and operate effectively in what had not always been a
welcoming environment. In a short time the police officer in the high school
was part of the fabric of D-Y. Even with the unquestionable success of the
program there was something missing. Roughly 60% of the student population at
D-Y was from Yarmouth, the other 40% from the Town of Dennis. In mid-1994 the
Dennis Police named its first school resource officer, Craig Stevenson. This
marked a time of change for the Yarmouth program. Stevenson’s assignment had
him posted at D-Y High School two days a week and at the Nathanial H. Wixon Middle School in Dennis three days a week. Xiarhos would now spend two days a week, the days
Stevenson was at the high school, at Mattacheese Middle School. The moniker, “D-Y P.D.” (Dennis-Yarmouth Police
Detachment) was coined by the newly formed team. June of 1994 would also mark
the end of Xiarhos’ seven and a half years in the
schools. He returned to the patrol division where he spent a short time on
the road before he was promoted to patrol sergeant. Nicholas Pasquarosa was
selected to succeed Xiarhos in the position and
assumed the D-Y/Mattacheese/detective post in August of 1994. The title School Resource Officer, or SRO, was
adopted by the YPD and Pasquarosa was sent for a week of specialized training
in Boston presented by the National Association of School Resource Officers.
In 1995 the Yarmouth Police received grant money to expand its school based
operations and instituted the “Adopt-a-School” program. Patrol officers
volunteered to adopt one of the four elementary schools in town to provide
safety programs and SRO-like services as their regularly assigned patrol
duties allowed. This supplemented the DARE program which was in its early
stages at the time. Both Adopt-a-School and DARE would run for several years
before eventually succumbing to lack of funding. The Yarmouth SRO program continued under this
format until 1996 when the school district faced a significant budget
shortfall and funding for the school resource officer was reduced to just
twelve scheduled hours. The presence at Mattacheese Middle School was
discontinued indefinitely. The presence at D-Y continued at three half-days a
week. In 1997 Yarmouth Chief of Police Peter Carnes, at considerable strain
to his budget, reinstated the 20 hour schedule at the high school to restore
continuity of services. In 1998 Dennis SRO Craig Stevenson left the
school post to take an assignment as a narcotics investigator. He was
succeeded by Officer Garvin Kelley who served at D-Y until 2001 when he was
offered a detective post. Detective Kelley was replaced by Officer Greg Farnkoff who served for eight years until his return to
the patrol force in 2008. Officer Farnkoff was
replaced by Officer Patrick McCaffrey. SRO McCaffrey is the son of the late
Superintendent of Schools Michael McCaffrey who courageously instituted the
program. SRO McCaffrey is the currently serving Dennis Police School Resource
Officer, dividing his time between D-Y High School and Mattacheese Middle
School which now serves students from both towns. The Yarmouth Police Department under the Carnes
administration had, for several years, sought federal grant money to make the
SRO at D-Y a full-time position and add a full-time SRO position at
Mattacheese Middle School. The department received the grant in 2003. This
removed the position from the Detective Division and reinvented the job
description. Nick Pasquarosa was retained at the high school
post with a schedule that was expanded to full time. Veteran patrol officer
Bill Coughlan was selected for the Mattacheese post. As required (and funded)
by the grant, both officers along with D-Y Principal Ken Jenks were sent to
Atlanta, Georgia where they received three days of training from the U.S.
Departments of Education and Justice. The Yarmouth Police and D-Y School
District worked out a cost sharing plan to ensure the continuation of the
program when the grant expired in 2006.
In 2008 the Town of Yarmouth, and by extension
the Police Department, fell into financial difficulty. The school resource
officer unit was disbanded as one of several cuts made to balance the police
budget. Just after school started that year Michael Almonte,
godfather of the SRO program and now Chief of Police, Superintendent of
Schools Carol Woodbury and D-Y Principal Ken Jenks came to an arrangement in
the face of serious political opposition and restored the school resource
officer at D-Y High School. The D-Y Police Services Unit reopened on
September 18, 2008 with the reinstatement of Nick Pasquarosa as SRO. The
Mattacheese SRO did not survive the cuts, “Officer
Bill” Coughlan returned to the patrol division and retired from the
Yarmouth Police Department one year later. The Mattacheese Middle School
Police Services Office remained closed until the spring of 2011 when
Superintendent Woodbury and the next Yarmouth Police Chief, Frank
Frederickson would come to an arrangement allowing for the assignment of a
School Resource Officer to Mattacheese Middle School for the fall of 2011.
Veteran Yarmouth police officer Sean Brewer was selected and is currently
assigned to that post. The school resource officer program has seen many
variations over the years. Since 1987 there have been seven police chiefs
between the two towns, five school superintendents, eight principals of the
various schools, countless assistant principals, and thousands of students
served by eight school resource officers. Every officer brought his own style
and personality to the endeavor. Any relationship is bound to have its ups and
downs over the course of thirty years but even in its deepest valleys the
partnership between the Yarmouth Police Department and the D-Y School District,
and the high school in particular, has always been a strong one. It stands as
an often envied example to other communities who wish to face the challenges
in their schools in a cooperative and effective way. This long standing
success has been achieved through a strong commitment to partnership. We are pleased and very proud to be
celebrating our thirtieth anniversary. Where
are they now? ~
Dr. Michael McCaffrey ~ Retired
as Superintendent of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District in 2001 and
passed away in 2006. ~
Curtis S. Collins, Jr. ~ Retired
in 1995 as Principal of Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School. ~
Robert Chapman ~ Retired
in 1995 as Chief of Police in Yarmouth. ~ Peter Carnes ~ Retired
in 2005 as Chief of Police in Yarmouth and is currently serving as Chief of
Police at Stone Hill College. ~
Michael Almonte ~ Retired
as Chief of Police in Yarmouth in 2010. ~
Frank Frederickson ~ Currently
serving as Chief of Police in Yarmouth, since 2010. ~
Carol Woodbury ~ Currently
serving as Superintendent of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District,
since 2005. ~
Ken Jenks ~ Currently
serving as Principal of Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, since 1999. ~
Mike Miller ~ Retired
as Chief of Police in Sandwich in 2005. ~
Steven Xiarhos ~ Founding
D-Y SRO (1987 to 1994) Currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Police in
Yarmouth ~
Craig Stevenson ~ Dennis
Police SRO 1994 to 1997 Having
done tours with the Cape Cod Drug Task Force and in the Dennis Police Detective
Division, Cape Cod SWAT Team as a crisis negotiator, and other posts Officer
Stevenson was promoted to Sergeant in 2015 shortly before discovering he was
afflicted with cancer. He was forced to retire by the illness and passed
earlier this year (2016). ~
Garvin Kelley ~ Dennis
Police SRO 1997 to 2000, retired in 2015 having done an extended tour in the
Dennis Police Detective and Patrol Divisions ~ Greg Farnkoff ~ Dennis
Police SRO 2000 to 2008, returned to the Dennis Police Patrol Division in
2008 and retired shortly thereafter ~
Patrick McCaffrey ~ Currently
Serving as the Dennis Police School Resource Officer at D-Y High School and
Mattacheese Middle School, since 2008. He is also the D-Y Freshman Football
Coach. ~
Bill Coughlan ~ Mattacheese
Middle School SRO 2003 to 2008, returned to the Yarmouth Police Patrol
Division in 2008 after budget cuts closed the Mattacheese Police Services
Office, he retried about a year later ~
Sean Brewer ~ Currently
serving as the Yarmouth Police SRO at Mattacheese Middle School, since 2011. ~
Nick Pasquarosa ~ Currently
serving as Yarmouth Police School Resource Officer at Dennis-Yarmouth
Regional High School, since 1994. For
more on the current D-Y School Resource Officer Program explore the rest of www.DYPD.us. “D-Y
Police Services Unit” on Facebook. |
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