MCCTC resource officer has important role

By BILLY LUDT

bludt@vindy.com

CANFIELD

Dustin Cover said he wasn’t expecting to spend any more time in school, but the patrol officer for Canfield Police Department has become a valuable asset to students and faculty alike at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center.

Cover will start his second year as MCCTC’s school resource officer later this month. School resumes Aug. 21, and from then until May 25, Cover will be on school grounds from the first to last bell.

He served in the Marine Corps artillery for four years and was deployed twice – first in 2005 in Ramadi, Iraq, and in 2007 on an expedition through Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

After finishing his time in the service, Cover began studying criminal justice at Youngstown State University while working part-time at CPD. He graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree and shortly after began working full time at the police department.

“Everything I was being taught, I was applying here at my job,” he said. He added while it was advantageous, it was also tiring, going to school and then work immediately afterward.

Public service is a tradition lasting three generations in Cover’s family, and he said it’s been a lifelong ambition to become a police officer.

“I went along the same line as my father,” he said.

His family has lived in the United States since 1748. Both his father and grandfather were firefighters, and the preceding six generations of family worked in agriculture.

Back in Canfield, students and faculty at MCCTC work with Cover every day. Students keep him up to date on trends and give him tips on anything suspicious happening within the school.

“It’s difficult,” Cover said. “When I was in school, we didn’t have social media and cyber bullying.”

Despite that, Cover said he has a good rapport with students and faculty.

“It’s not that we’re trying to get kids in legal trouble, but they have a lot of questions,” said Ralph Sandy, principal and dean of student. “He’s down to Earth. He can talk to kids. He doesn’t try to intimidate them. He’s very valuable for us here.”

Sandy said Cover’s legal knowledge is often put to the test during the school day. Whether he’s given hypothetical or actual situations, Cover works to assist students.

If it’s a speeding ticket, custody issues at home, suicidal thoughts, or anything of the like, Cover is available to listen.

“A lot of those kids gravitate toward him for that advice,” Sandy said. “Dustin’s not the kind of guy who says call the police when you get home. Dustin will facilitate that for you.”

Cover gives ALICE (Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate), or active-shooter training, to faculty and students.

“In this day and age of school shootings and violence in schools, I think it gives both the parents and students some comfort in knowing that we have someone here who can protect us,” Sandy said.

He added, “With Dustin’s history, he’s a guy you can trust.”

Cover said his time at MCCTC has been a good experience, and though he wasn’t expecting to be there initially, he’s continuing to learn from faculty and students daily.