WARREN Deputy becomes officer at Trumbull tech center

He begins his new assignment Monday.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Robert Altier is familiar with both the blackboard of teaching and the nightstick of police work.
Altier, 29, a Trumbull County Sheriff's Deputy and a former substitute teacher at Girard and Liberty High Schools, will now be combining skills from both of his careers when he begins his new job Monday as a school police officer at the Trumbull Career and Technical Center.
"I'm really looking forward to it but I do have those back to school jitters," Altier said Tuesday. "It's going to be a unique situation because there are 800 students from 15 different schools there. I think the fact that I've been a teacher will really help me communicate with the students."
Reaction: Dianne Kenzie, superintendent of TCTC, said she is pleased to have Altier at the school.
"We had a police officer at the school last year but we had several different deputies that would come," Kenzie said. "Now we will have the same officer here day after day and the students will have a chance to get to know him."
She noted that the school has not had any discipline problems that would require a police officer.
"We do have a lot of traffic here," Kenzie said. "We are a career center and students provide services for the public such as dog grooming, hair stylists and a restaurant. So we have a lot of people coming here and we welcome them. It's just nice to know that we will have a uniformed officer here if one is needed."
Grant: Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere, no relation to Altier, assigned Altier to the job earlier this month. The sheriff noted that the county received a federal grant that will pay 75 percent of the deputy's annual salary for three years. The school will pay the other 25 percent, officials said. The deputy earns $38,000 in salary and benefits per year, sheriff department officials said.
"He will spend his entire day at the school," Altiere said. "He will be in charge of investigating all vandalism, breaking and entering, thefts and any other crimes that happen at the school."
As the school police officer, Altier will also be required to provide programs and lectures for students regarding drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse and safe driving practices, the sheriff said.