The Oregon-Davis School Board members created a Police Department during their most recent meeting.
They approved a resolution that authorizes the school board to establish a Corporation School Police Department which allows for a Chief of Police, a School Resource Officer (SRO), and any other officers approved by the board that are certified and trained by the authority of the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board.
Superintendent Bill Bennett told the school board last week that Frank Lonigro III did a lot of work in putting this all together. Lonigro said the process would be a big benefit to the corporation.
Lonigro commented, “It’s going to give us the options of hiring in guys from the [Starke County] Sheriff’s Department or other local agencies that can come and work on a part-time basis.”
Lonigro III, who is the current Head of Maintenance at Oregon-Davis Schools and a former Hamlet Police Chief, still has police powers and a basic SRO certification. He was the SRO at Oregon-Davis before John Kohles took over. He said to keep other certifications updated he can take an 80-hour refresher course for police action.
Bennett noted that the school should be able to cover expenses with grants.
“We do have a couple of funding sources right now coming in for safety,” stated Bennett. “Hopefully, the second one will be the opportunity to have funding for a full-time School Resource Officer. In addition to not only funding salaries, it will also help with training. That looks really, really promising. It’s not a 100 percent done deal, but it’s really close. On top of that, we do have our Secured School Safety Grant which we pay in the salary for the SRO and then we receive safety-related upgrades to the school.”
The board members commented that it would be a positive addition to the school to keep students safe and to respond to issues. They approved the resolution creating the police department with a unanimous vote.
The board also unanimously appointed Frank Lonigro III as the Oregon-Davis School Corporation Police Department Police Chief, who will report to the superintendent. Corporation Treasurer Nikki Salazar gave the Oath of Office to Lonigro following the meeting.
