Features Editor

Sept. 18, 2000 10 PM

Brundidge Police Chief Moses Davenport has been informed that his department will receive a COPS in Schools grant for one new, additional full-time police officer for a three-year period.

The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Davenport said the grant will enable him to hire an additional officer whose responsibilities and duties will include providing security at both Pike County Elementary and Pike County High schools. The officer also be a liaison between the schools and the community.

"We are very fortunate to have been awarded this grant," Davenport said. "Although we have had no serious problems at the schools, having an officer on campus will provided added security and will foster better relations between the schools, the police department and the community."

Davenport said Pike County Elementary School Principal Donnella Carter worked with him to prepare the grant application and was instrumental in the process of securing the grant for the schools.

Carter said the officer will split time between the elementary school and the high school and he or she will have an office on both campuses.

"The officer may be on duty during school hours or after hours at school events," Carter said. "Having a police officer assigned to the schools will be a safeguard against vandalism and unauthorized access to the school."

Carter said the application for the grant was, in no way, an indication of trouble on campus, but was rather a preventive measure taken to make sure the schools remain safe and secure.

Davenport said his department is continually looking for ways to improve security at the schools and to improve relations between the police department and the youths.

"Like out motto says, we are here to protect and to serve," Davenport said. "This grant gives us another avenue to do both. By having an officer on campus, everyone will feel more secure – the students, the teachers, the administration and the parents. The students will get to know the officer and, through his association with them, they will better understand that the police are here for them. This grant is a very good thing and we are proud to be a participant in the COPS in Schools program."

Davenport said, after the three-year grant period, the city of Brundidge will, hopefully, assume the responsibility for keeping an officer in the schools.

Anyone interested in the applying for the position may contact Davenport for more information.