On April 23, 2018, Mayor Gary Christenson officially announced that Officer Phil Halloran will be the new School Resource Officer for Malden High.
Interim Principal Chris Mastrangelo mentioned that not only does having an SRO increase the amount of safety within our school, but it also provides students with the opportunity to have a relationship with the Malden Police Department. He added that “students deserve to come to school in a safe environment”, and having an officer around will help Malden High ensure that students feel safe. Mastrangelo goes further to explain Halloran’s “role at the school will lie mostly around connecting with students and staff”.
Mayor Christenson agreed with Mastrangelo, saying that “[Having an SRO at Malden High] will help foster some positive relationships between students and [the] police department.” He believes that the concerns that students have play an impactful role on how they learn, adding that “students have to feel safe in order to learn, grow, and be productive.” He mentions that this is the reason why Malden has been striving for the past five years to make not only students feel safe, but staff as well, from installing more advanced locks on door to surveillance cameras around buildings.
Christenson stated that Halloran’s job is to “look around and identify potential weak spots that would make [Malden High] susceptible to school violence”, and build solid relationships with the student body, to ensure that students will let him know about any issue. He mentioned how Malden High has had a resource officer in the past but could not sustain it due to budgeting.
With many school violence issues occurring across the country, Police Chief, Kevin Molis, thought that a SRO was necessary.
Halloran mentioned how he was once a Malden High student and added how many police officers went to school at Malden Catholic, Pope John, Austin Prep and more. He thinks it is a good job opportunity for him due to the fact that he has a connection with the school and kids.
Halloran talked about how he could contact for help a lot quicker, without dialing 911. He has quick and easy access to officers and ambulances, in case there is an urgent emergency.
Halloran explained how Molis did not want to assign an officer because he wanted someone who was willing to take on that role and responsibility. He included that last year the position of a resource officer was vacant because no one wanted it. “However, this year was very competitive, many people wanted the job”, he then goes on the explain how he “won through a series of interviews.”
Overall, Halloran, Mastrangelo, and Christenson hope that having a school resource officer present at all times will help students and staff feel safer about the environment they are learning and teaching in.
