Carol's Turtle Tales

Officer McConnell shows students his police car

When Officer McConnell visited the Leggett Street School in Wauseon not long ago, the students were thrilled to get a close-up look at his patrol car ... especially when he demonstrated the lights and siren!

According to a three-year study of School Resource Officers conducted in Toledo, law enforcement in schools not only seems like a wise investment but also has been shown to work.

In hundreds of Ohio communities, police chiefs, sheriffs and law enforcement CEOs are seizing the opportunity to place their best officers in the center of the most victimized and greatest offender population: youth. School Resource Officers are sworn law enforcement officers assigned to schools as their beat.

In conjunction with the City of Wauseon, the Wauseon Police Department has received a COPS in Schools Grant, which provides for Officer Bill McConnell to be placed in the school system as a School Resource Officer and spend 75% of his on-duty time there.

He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1961 but his family moved soon afterward to Garfield Heights, a Cleveland Suburb. His father worked in the Ford Motor Company factory from l950 to the 1980's when he retired. His mother was a stay at home mom until he was in junior high and then she became an engineer's assistant. An average student, he played in the band and ran cross country in high school.

And since he enjoys his job so much, one would never guess he didn't start out seeking a career in law enforcement.

Instead, he headed off to Ohio Northern University to study pharmacy. During his second year there, he met his future wife, Rhonda Ingle. A year later, he switched his major to business and transferred to Cleveland State. He landed a job in the marketing office at Gray Drug and went to school at night. Gray Drug offered tuition reimbursement plan that made school affordable and he and Rhonda got married.

During a really competitive time in the drug store industry, Rite Aid bought Gray Drug and he became a store manager and then district manager. "I was working 70 hours a week and moving through out the state," he says. "Hoping to work fewer hours, I took a store manager position in the Lima area with Hooks Super-X Drug chain and moved to Wapakoneta. I read a newspaper article asking for volunteer auxiliary police officers and I applied. Rhonda supported me in my new interest and I was accepted. I attended Shawnee Apollo Basic Police Academy in Lima four nights a week and all day Saturday for six months in order to complete the required Ohio Peace Officer Basic Training and become a volunteer auxiliary police officer with the Wapakoneta Police Department."

A job change brought Bill to Edgerton, where he became a part-time police officer for Edgerton Police Department working weekends. And he soon decided to become a full- time police officer.

In April 1995 he took the Civil Service Exam finishing first on all areas of testing.

Officer McConnell talks about bicycle safety

During his Safety City presentation, Bill demonstrated several phases of bicycle safety to these VERY interested students!

In August, he was hired by the Wauseon Police Department. "Our chief, Bob Brehm, is very supportive and he works to better the department by encouraging each officer to become a specialist in a different area." Bill says. " We have a polygraphist, John Roof, which is very unusual because northwest Ohio has only one. Other specialists are detective Rick Bingham and a canine unit officer, Ken Blankenship."

In April of 1999 the federal government started the Cops In Schools Program, in which a police officer goes into a school to serve as a preventative role model, educator and counselor. Officers are counselors in the sense that they provide guidance to students and act as a link to support services both inside and outside the school. Bill isn't there because of serious problems in Wauseon Schools. Rather his role is prevention, and he serves as a visual deterrent to problems.

" The Chief put me in the schools at department expense until we could get a grant," he says. " The kids got to know me and I got to know them. I am a guest speaker on the Fourth Amendment for American history class and on the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving for driver's ed. I also present programs on detective work, theft issues, crime and punishment, local government, and general safety."

" With so many kids from so many different backgrounds and with so many different personalities, fights sometimes erupt. I help them work out their differences and solve their problems. One day on the playground, a first grader asked me for my autograph and I ended up signing about 300 napkins and business cards. My presence makes them comfortable with a police officer in uniform."

Bill also helps with truancy issues, verifies student residency and helps to resolve legal issues. He mentors at the Leggett and Elm Street Schools every week, meets with students on probation, and helps with homework. He also teaches bicycle and crossing safety as part of Safety City and presents the 6-to8- hour Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program for student offenders, which is required in order for them to regain their eligibility for sports and school activities. As part of his community outreach, he gives presentations on safety to 4-H Clubs.

Bill especially appreciates this Wauseon Police Department shield because his wife Rhonda painted it!

In October 2002, a grant allowed him to go into the school full time. And each year since has presented a major challenge. Shortly after the September 11th 2001 World Trade Center Attack and subsequent anthrax mailings, a Wauseon elementary student opened a new book and white powder fell out. All the books in that shipment were quarantined and shipped to a state lab, where the powder was determined to be nothing more than cornstarch, which is often used to keep the pages from sticking during binding. Nevertheless, it was a scary situation.

"During the 2001-02 school year" Bills says "we had an unfortunate incident in which all the school bus tires were slashed during spring break, causing school to be cancelled the first day back. I was put in charge of the investigation because of my presence in the schools, and it really helped that I knew the kids. They started talking right away and gave enough information over the next several months to help us solve the case. The guilty student was apprehended and his parents made full restitution of $7,000."

"Last year's biggest challenge was an incident after the basketball game with Pettisville, when some fans from Wauseon went onto the court and pushed a Pettisville player to the floor. Fortunately the student was not hurt in the incident, which was caught on INTV and looked suspicious."

"There's a lot of rivalry between the two schools because of their close proximity. The school district and I spent more than 100 hours investigating and a Wauseon student was charged."

During the summer, Officer McConnell returns to his duties as city patrolman. "Being a regular patrolman is easier than being a school resource officer because during the school day I deal with a lot of students. emotions, especially at the high school and junior high level. Talking to lots of kids, you hear their frustrations about problems at home, school and boyfriend/girlfriend problems."

Officer McConnell appreciates the fact that being in the school puts him in touch will all kinds of kids. "When I was working second shift as a police officer, I got to know and deal with only those students who were getting into trouble between the time school let out and curfew."

" When my Son Robbie went to Band Camp in ninth grade, I volunteered to be a camp counselor and I was put in charge of a house with 12 boys. I wondered what this would be like and I was surprised when they all showed up before curfew. With 13 people and one shower in that cabin, everybody had to get up at a specific time if we were all going to get ready."

" When I got up the first morning, one student was in the living room reading his Bible and another one was on the front porch writing in his journal. These were the kind of kids I'd never known because band kept them busy and helped them build assets for life." Last summer he made his sixth trip to band camp.

And how do Robbie and his younger brothers – Michael and P.J. . feel about having Dad in school?

" Robbie was apprehensive at first, thinking I would spy on him and interrogate his friends," Bill says. "But it never became a problem and he is now a sophomore now at Penn State. Michael, a junior, is comfortable with Dad at school and he even brings food to share at lunch and talks to me . P.J., a fifth grader, hasn't quite made up his mind yet even though his friends are attracted to me as a police officer."

Officer McConnell helping with book sale

Before last Summer's Fulton County Relay For Life used book sale, Bill helped move LOTS of books to the fairgrounds.

Becoming a SRO requires extra training and the Wauseon Police Department sponsors the course, which is taught at the local high school. The class can accommodate ten police officers from through out the state for the 40 hours of training. Bill's the only SRO in the area and he attended the SRO convention in Phoenix last summer with Mr. Hanak, the assistant high school principal. The convention's purpose was to bring SROs and school administrators together to learn how the program operates. Together, they developed an emergency response plan for Wauseon schools.

"In spite of the concern about danger, I enjoy being a police officer because every day is different," Bill says. " Wauseon is a pretty safe community and I've been able to see my kids grow up. Our department is very supportive of family life and we are allowed to go to our kids games and programs during work hours. Sure there are drawbacks – like the fact that some positions in private industry pay more and have better benefits".

"And there are times when you go to the scene of an accident and have to deal with people being hurt. But in twelve years on the job, I have never been as emotionally involved as when my neighbor was struck by a truck while crossing the street. In addition to my official duties, I had my personal concern for her to deal with. After she was transported by ambulance, I had to go to her home, wake up her husband, and remain calm while I informed him. Thankfully she made a good recovery."

In addition to being a police officer, Bill has been active in Boy Scouting, the Lions Club and Relay for Life. He loves Wauseon and that is reflected in his prize-winning slogan for the year 2001: Wauseon, A Place Of Pride.

Wauseon School Superintendent Marc Robinson feels that the SRO program is working better than he ever expected.

"We wanted a person in our district that would work well with young people and create a sound relationship with the city and city police department," he says. " This has truly happened in a variety of ways. Students see Bill daily not as a police officer, although he is always in uniform, but as a friend who is comfortable to talk to. In addition to his expertise he brings valuable resources to our district and he is utilized on a daily basis. We feel a deep gratitude to the city for providing this resource to our school district. It takes a totally unique person to fill this role and Bill has the right mixture of qualifications and personality with which to work with our students and staff members."