Leetonia cops join activities

A resource officer's main duty is to build rapport with pupils, the chief said.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- As village police participate in Leetonia High students' Prom Promise efforts this week, funding for a full-time school resource officer is still in the works.
Prom Promise activities urge high school students not to use alcohol or drugs during prom celebrations.
Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano said police will speak at an assembly at 2 p.m. Thursday at the school. Soldano said he and Salem Township Constable Dan Valentine will attend the prom at 6 p.m. Friday at The Georgetown in Boardman.
Such activities build rapport among police and school district pupils and staff, Soldano said. Developing such a rapport would be the primary duty of a full-time school resource officer, he said.
Receiving grant
Soldano was notified late last year that his department would receive a $100,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to pay for a school resource officer for three years. Getting from the award phase to hiring an officer, however, takes time, he said.
Soldano is planning to put an officer in the Leetonia Schools full time starting in the fall. The grant is to pay for the position for three years.
Leetonia has about 900 pupils in kindergarten through 12th grades, all housed at a single site.
A school resource officer will be involved with pupils at all grade levels and will likely be the department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer, Soldano said.