EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a reprint from the “Inside Miami Township” Spring Newsletter.
Since the early 1990’s, the Miami Township Police Department has staffed a full-time officer in the schools in Miami Township to teach the D.A.R.E. curriculum. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, which is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children in elementary and middle schools on how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence free lives.
Currently, Officer Skip Rasfeld teaches the D.A.R.E. curriculum to the 
students in Miami Township. Officer Rasfeld impacts more than 900 elementary school children, and an additional 500 7th grade children, each year in Miami Township during the school year through classroom instruction.
During the summer, Officer Rasfeld runs two camps for children between the ages of 6-9, an additional two camps for children between the ages of 10-13, and a final camp for children between the ages of 13-16. These camps are centered on building confidence and making relationships with peers while touching on outdoor safety. Officer Rasfeld plays an important role in the development of the youth in Miami Township and his efforts are greatly appreciated.
In the late 1990’s, high schools across the United States started dedicating School Resource Officers (SROs) in response to increasing frequent violent incidents at schools. The SROs role initially was to provide security, be highly visibility, participate in vulnerability assessments, and to investigate threats to schools. SROs have become commonplace in schools around Miami Township over the years.
Presently, the Miami Township Police Department has five dedicated SROs: Officer Steven Pielage, Officer Matt Evans, Officer Sherri Howard, Officer Jaimie Porter, and Officer Brent Higgins.
The Miami Township Police Department’s SROs main focus is to provide security for the children and staff at the schools, but their roles are growing in all areas related to the schools. Today, our SRO’s serve as a liaison between the school administration and the police department, participate in active school violence response training, act as role models, assist in problem solving, and mediate conflicts. The SROs develop bonds with our students, and you will frequently see our SROs attending student sports activities, school plays, concerts, and graduations. While the relationships built between the SROs and students are important, the relationships the SROs have with school administrators, faculty, and staff members are equally important.
The police department and each school share the same goal of providing a safe place for all students in Miami Township to receive the best education possible. The SROs and school officials work tirelessly to meet this goal, and spend countless time training when school is not in session with other first responders. Annual active threat reviews are conducted to make sure all are within compliance with state mandates and several of our SROs are certified ALICE instructors. ALICE training is a program designed to help people students and staff survive school shootings. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. This training can save lives, build confidence in those involved and mitigate risk. ALICE drills are conducted between SROs, school personnel, and students numerous times throughout the school year.
Along with these drills, SROs and the schools in Miami Township conduct regular drills including lockdowns, fire drills, tornado drills, emergency evacuation drills, bus evacuations and active shooter drills.
The collaboration and coordination of all of these programs between the Miami Township Police Department and the schools in Miami Township are all done with one thing in mind – keeping the students of Miami Township safe.
