New resource officer to make appearance in local schools

By Laura Bohnert

Onoway Junior/Senior High School (OHS) and St. Peter the Apostle Catholic High School (in Spruce Grove) are welcoming their first ever School Resource Officer.

Just before students went on their Christmas break, RCMP Constable Shamir Javer joined the schools’ communities as their School Resource Officer. As well as providing increased security and an interactive and involved community access point to the RCMP, Constable Javer will be dividing his time between the two schools to provide educational services. These include class presentations and access to educational resources that are otherwise inaccessible to students. For instance, Constable Javer has already conducted a forensic presentation with the students at OHS.

As well, Constable Javer will be able to provide mentoring and increased interactions with the students through his new position as School Resource Officer.

As St. Peter the Apostle Catholic High School’s Principal Mark McCrudden describes, Constable Javer will be helping to educate students about the law, but will also be providing the students with information that will help them make positive life choices.

Constable Javer’s presence, McCrudden explains, is one that will have a positive impact on both the students and the community at large.

School Resource Officers are typically law enforcement officers who are employed by the local police or, in this case, RCMP, to help create a safer school environment for both students and staff. Constable Javer’s presence within both schools will help create a stronger relationship between students and the RCMP, but it will also create a stronger connection between the RCMP and both of the communities Javer will be serving.

Constable Javer, who has been working with the Stony Plain and Spruce Grove RCMP for the past three years, will be able to work with school administrators, staff, students, parents, and the community as a whole to identify and address school concerns. Creating a stronger visible presence within the schools, Javer’s presence will help to strengthen the community as a whole.