Mt. Pleasant Area school police ready to roll with donated patrol vehicle

Mt. Pleasant Area School District’s four-man police force is shifting into a higher gear with the addition of its first vehicle.

The district police force has placed into service a Ford Interceptor SUV that was donated by Mt. Pleasant Borough after it finished its use as a patrol car for the municipal police department.

Jon Grabiak, who is in his second year as chief of the school police, said the refitted SUV will help the force’s officers travel among the district’s four campuses: the junior-senior high and Donegal, Norvelt and Ramsay elementary schools.

“This is a huge deal for the school district,” said Grabiak. “We operate just like the borough police but on a much smaller scale. We deal with things on school property and on buses, things happening to and from school and at bus stops.”

John Campbell, principal at Mt. Pleasant Area Junior High, noted the district encompasses 116 square miles.

“Having the capability for our officers to get through the district quickly is important,” he said. “It’s a quicker response time for our staff and our students.”

The exterior of the Interceptor has been updated to feature the district name and an image of the school’s Viking mascot, conveying a strong statement about school security.

“It’s a huge deterrent when you have a (marked) police vehicle sitting in front of the school,” said Grabiak. Before the arrival of the Interceptor, the school police officers used their personal vehicles for all duties.

Art students at the high school submitted designs that provided inspiration for the police car’s new look.

“It was sort of an amalgamation, everyone had a part in it,” said Cam Wojnar, a senior who is a member of the school’s chapter of the National Art Honor Society. “I think everybody contributed a little bit to the Viking.”

Other contributions of effort and funding made the police car possible, Campbell said. A $1,000 donation from the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club, $500 in proceeds from a dance staged by the affiliated student Interact Club and additional money from the nonprofit Mt. Pleasant Area Viking Foundation helped to cover the costs of refitting the vehicle, including installation of new emergency lights.

“The foundation, the district and the borough all came together to provide this sense of security for our students and to give the police department the tools that are needed,” said Ed Christofano, who chairs the foundation board.

Responding to an inquiry from Grabiak, the borough agreed to donate the police car since it was replacing it with an updated 2023 model, purchased with federal pandemic relief funds.

“We like to replace them every three to four years because the mileage gets up on them,” said Rico Cholock, who chairs Mt. Pleasant Borough Council’s public safety committee.

Of the local school buildings, Ramsay Elementary is located in the borough.

“The borough has always had a working relationship with Ramsay,” said Cholock. “We work hand-in-hand for a crossing guard or anything they need.”

‘Layer of protection’

Greater Latrobe is another local school district that has obtained vehicles for its police officers.

Said Superintendent Mike Porembka, “We have at least one officer in every building every day, and one car assigned to each building.

“If you’re going to have a full-time officer, and they’re going to potentially respond to another building, you want them to do it appropriately and safely.”

Greater Latrobe facilities include the senior high, the junior high and Latrobe, Mountain View and Baggaley elementary schools.

The district equipped its police officers with vehicles in the summer of 2022, Porembka said. The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation covered the cost of Ford Interceptors for two of the district elementary schools.

“We had five community members who stepped forward to get the third car for our remaining elementary school,” Porembka said.

Since 2013, Greater Latrobe also has had a school resource officer, who works at the district through an agreement with the city police department in Latrobe. Porembka said the district and the city share the costs for that officer’s vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe.

Mt. Pleasant Area initiated its school police force in 2014, shortly after the wounding of 20 youths and a security guard during a knife attack at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville.

“Having our professional law enforcement officers here provides a great layer of protection for our students and staff,” said Campbell. “They’re an integral part of our operations across the board, not just during the school day.”

He explained Grabiak and the other officers are involved in planning for all after-school and weekend events that are held on district property.

He said the officers also contribute to the district’s educational offerings, ranging from visits with elementary kids to providing professional insight for students in a criminal justice course.

‘Collective body’

Although their functions are similar, school police officers are hired directly by districts while school resource officers are employed by a separate law enforcement entity. The resource officer serves in a school setting under an agreement between the district and the enforcement entity.

The school resource officer concept is said to have begun in the 1950s in Michigan.

“The number of school resource officers started to increase in 2013, post-Sandy Hook,” Beth Sanborn said, referring to the mass shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 that killed 20 students and six employees at a Connecticut elementary school.

Sanborn is president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers and also serves as school safety coordinator for Montgomery County.

She said her organization maintains a mailing list of more than 400 people, but she was unable to estimate the total number of school resource officers across the state.

“The position goes by a bunch of different names, and people transition in and out of the position,” she said.

Sanborn said a school resource officer should be “someone who has a desire to work with kids and wants to see kids succeed.

“We’re also informal mentors and counselors. We’re part of a collective body that helps to keep our kids safe and helps them become healthy, productive members of society and reach their definition of success.”