The Times

Cops, kids, schools voice strong support for YRO's

From Page 1 proposal, states that the Youth Resource Officers started out in the schools to establish rapport and gain the students' respect for law enforcement, thus preventing kids from going "afoul of the law." Now, Gainer, states, "These officers are looked upon as security officers." And, he explained later in a telephone interview, the School Board pays half the cost of security officers in City of Miami schools and should do the same for Coral Gables. The answer given by the school principals and the officers involved, as well as by former Gables High PTA president and secretary of the city's Youth Advisory Board, Mrs. Maggie Black is that the officers provide more than security. "I do think there is more respect by young people for police now. The program has helped very much," Mrs. Black said. "I don't think the need for the program is as critical as it has been in the past and we do need to take care of patroling outside the schools, but these officers work with the kids on a 'buddy' basis," she said. "The threat of violence, harm or shakedowns in Coral Gables schools is minimal." Coral Gables High School Principal Alan Olkes, who said at the time of the Riviera Drive controversy - when residents complained about students lounging in their yards - that the school could handle internal security, stated this week that Youth Resource Officers "don't just handle security. "It just can't be measured," Olkes said. "The school people don't see it as a security thing, though, of course, it's a help. I can think of three or four confidential cases where kids were about to get mixed into things and they were turned around and helped considerably by these officers ... it's communication." Olkes, who said he had understood that the city manager supported his initial request for a second Youth Resource Officer at Gables High, said, "You can't estimate the good the relationship between these young people and the officers does. "It will be years before we see the full ramifications," he predicted. Principal Charles Gray of Carver Junior High concu[?]ed. "They play an important role; they play several important roles," Gray said. "The officer communicates with the students and they get to know police as friends. I feel this rapport and trust is the most important thing. "Maybe this is just a political move," the principal guessed. "That's the only reason I can think of. The students have benefited. When they learn of things happening they come to the officers confidentially. That's solved a lot of problems." The four officers in the unit, lead by Sgt. Tony Raimondo, are well known in Gables schools. The four men speak of their unit with pride and affection. "This is the only place to be," Noyer said. "It's a hard job. Security things are not all we do. Most of my time is spent in the classrooms or on the athletic field, really getting to know the students. "We have movies, counseling, lectures, everything. There's really only a little time for security unless it's a slow day." Morrison admits that "there are so many kids, it is hard to find the time to be with each one. You can't reach them all, but the kids know who I am and they know I'll treat them fairly." And PeeWee Harris testifies that Morrison "always has a big bunch of kids around him, talking, during lunch." The unit is Sgt. Tony Raimondo's chief pride and joy. Closing the unit, he said, "would be a bad, lousy mistake." Raimondo traces some administrative misunderstanding of the officer's roles back to the Riviera Drive problems, but he says security is only an offshoot of the unit's accomplishments in counseling and in forming friendships with the students. Raimondo says students approach the officers to confess their misdeeds or to quietly report problems with other students "They know we will treat them fair," Raimondo said. "We are trying to develop the old concept of 'if you are ever in trouble, call a policeman.' That's what Mama used to tell us. "Since this unit got in full swing in 1972," Raimondo said, "we've dropped 30 per cent in juvenile crime. We've had no riots, no destruction, no student unrest like we had in 1971. "We are doing it. We can communicate." ''I've still got to be bad a bit, once in a while, or I'll ruin my reputation. But those officers got me in the right direction.'' "PeeWee" Harris

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