School resource officer replaced after interaction with student

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MIDDLETOWN – A Middletown police department School Resource Officer (SRO) has been reassigned to the patrol division after an incident at a Middletown school on Thursday.  The announcement was made by Police Lieutenant Jeffry Thoelen on Friday.

On Thursday a student at an undisclosed Middletown City School District school had become unruly and was failing to respond to requests from school security staffers.  The SRO intervened in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

At one point, the SRO confiscated the student’s cell phone.  The student became agitated and attempted to push past the officer.  The SRO grabbed the student in an attempt to keep the area secure.  According to the statement issued by the police, no charges have been filed and none are expected.  The incident is being reviewed so that the police department and school district can develop new methods of police and student interactions, according to Lieutenant Thoelen.

Thoelen said the SRO’s actions “were not the best course of action in the view of both district officials and our own department administration. For that reason, the SRO will be assigned back to patrol and will be replaced with another fully trained School Resource Officer.  The outgoing SRO may also receive additional training or counseling regarding this incident.”




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