Costa Mesa cops on campus

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Come Tuesday, it won’t be just students going back to

school.

It’s time for the police officers to get off the streets and head back

to campuses as well.

This week, the Costa Mesa Police Department will dive into the school

year by sending out two officers with the sole duty of covering local

schools.

While one of these school resource officers will cover Costa Mesa High

School, the other will take over TeWinkle Middle School and Estancia High

School, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent of business services.

The city and the school district are splitting the expenses for the

program -- about $90,000 each. That cost includes officers’ salaries,

equipment and training.

The goal of these officers is to establish a relationship with the

schools and more importantly, the students, Fine said.

“They’re not just dealing with crime issues,” he said. “But they are

building a relationship with the kids, building trust and [they] serve as

an extra resource and support to teachers as well as students.”

The program is in its second year in Newport Beach where the it has

been a tremendous success, said Newport Beach school resource officer

Steve Martinez.

“This is a proactive approach,” he said. “We’re the first ones to hear

about problems because we’re right there.”

In Newport Beach Martinez handles Newport Harbor High School while

officer Andy Halpin covers Ensign Middle School and Corona del Mar High

School.

The officers take care of law enforcement, are available for

counseling and even make a couple of class presentations each week.

Martinez said he has also discussed safety drills and hypothetical

violent situations with school staff to ensure preparedness.

“I work with our crime prevention specialist to identify trends and

see how we can make our schools safer,” he said.

In addition to police presence, the school district is also taking

several steps including a new and improved 911 system, Fine said.

The new system, expected to become functional in about a month, tells

police or fire dispatch officials exactly where the calls are coming from

within the school, he said.

For example, if a student called from Room 210 at Costa Mesa High, the

person taking the 911 call will be able to see all the information about

the location.

“It’ll tell them if it’s on the east or west side,” Fine explained.

“It has definite advantages because it speeds up service and it

discourages students from making prank 911 calls because now it can be

tracked down.”

School officials have also been updating and revising their emergency

response plan, he said.

“Years ago the plan focused only on earthquakes,” Fine said. “But now

we’re including everything from what happens when an airplane crashes in

the schoolyard to hazardous chemical spills and shootings.”