POUGHKEEPSIE – Two Poughkeepsie school students were taken into police custody Thursday afternoon and a police officer was treated at a local hospital after breaking up a large-scale fight in the vicinity of the Poughkeepsie Middle and High Schools Thursday afternoon. The City of Poughkeepsie officer assigned as the School Resource Officer for Poughkeepsie High School, Jonathan Geuss, was injured on National School Resource Officer Day while performing his duties to protect students.
The after-school fights have become a frequent occurrence both on and off school grounds after the dismissal bell rings. On a few occasions the brawls required outside agencies, including the New York State Police and Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office to respond and assist the understaffed City of Poughkeepsie Police Department in restoring peace.
Thursday’s after-school fight resulted in two students being taken to the juvenile division of the police department for processing. Officer Geuss was evaluated and treated at a Poughkeepsie hospital for injuries sustained while trying to separate the fighters.
On Wednesday, Poughkeepsie City School District Superintendent Dr. Eric Rosser released his “Superintendent Brief” with the lead story bearing the headline “PCSD celebrates safety team” in advance of National School Resource Officer Day. In the newsletter, Rosser said “Each member of our district safety and security team serves as an important bridge between youth, law enforcement and our community. Each serves as trusted adult students can confide in, Code of Conduct and law enforcers, and the “eyes and ears” to keeping our school community safe. As valuable members of the district, please express gratitude for their unwavering commitment to keeping our schools, students and staff safe.”
The Thursday fight is an indicator that certain students did not read the newsletter that also paid tribute to City of Poughkeepsie Detective Karen Zirbel, SRO at Poughkeepsie Middle School, and the entire group of safety personnel.
