New Jersey township adding resource officers to every school in district

WASHINGTON TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) -- Every school in Washington Township, New Jersey is now staffed with a school resource officer because of a new agreement between the police department and the board of education.

The announcement was made on Tuesday morning during a press conference outside Washington Township High School.

"Our students and teachers deserve a learning environment that will be made safe by the intensive and extensive training of our police officers," Washington Township Police Chief Patrick Gurcsik said. "Our officers are trained in active shooter response, tactical training, de-escalation training and can render first aid on the spot."

According to the police chief, there was already a police presence in township schools, but this agreement places one full-time police officer in every school in the district every day, along with two in the high school.

School officials said there are 11 schools in the district and 7,300 students attend those schools.

The 14 school resources officers are already staffing school buildings. Chief Gurcsik said the officers will work the 180 school days and have off during the summer months.

Chief Gurcsik said the state's attorney general issued a directive in June 2022, ordering an increased police presence in all schools. He said Washington Township answered the call.

"We were ahead of the curve. We already had officers patrolling the different schools - our officers walked the schools, our K-9 officers walked the perimeter of the schools. This just enhances that security," he said.

Gurcsik said there are also five K-9 officers on duty in the district. He said they patrol the footprint of the school buildings.

"We need to keep our children safe, and that's our number one priority here in Washington Township," Mayor Joann Gattinelli said. "We're protecting over 7,500 students and staff, and it's important for us to recognize that, especially in the world we live in today."

Township and education officials said the main reason for the dedicated school resource officers in every school is to ensure safety and security for students and staff.

"Response time goes from minutes to seconds, right? Because we have a police officer full-time in our buildings and several at the high school," Washington Township Superintendent Eric Hibbs said. "In that moment, you look at the recent school shootings, like Uvalde, response time matters."

The 14 officers have all been sworn in as Washington Township officers. The chief said some were retired officers, who decided to come back to the force in a new capacity.

Tom Ditullio has been a school resource officer in Washington Township for several years.

Currently working at Bells Elementary, he explained how the school resource officers hope to become part of the fabric of the school community in the township.

"We're friendly. We come in their classrooms. We read books to them," he said. "But yet, if something goes wrong in different schools, and it has a number of times over the years where the police presence was needed, we're seconds away."

The superintendent said they hope to keep each school staffed with officers for many years to come.

"As far as I'm concerned, this should go into perpetuity, forever, everlasting," Dr. Hibbs said on Tuesday. "This is something we have to do for our kids and our staff. The world we live in right now, it's a different world than we lived in even ten years ago."

The funding for these officers was made possible because of a shared services agreement between the township and schools, the police chief said.