8 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Officer
from 1A
of School Resource Officers
Basic SRO program. The
course requires 40 hours of
training.
“This provides us with some
redundancy to handle staffing
challenges that may come up
from time to time,” Ott said. “It
is good training, even for some-
one who has already been an
officer for a period of time,
since there are a lot of differ-
ences between being a police
officer on the street and being a
police officer in a school.”
Bailey has also gone through
the program, and will likely
take over as Siuslaw’s SRO in
January.
“As a school officer, you
perform some educational
tasks, some informal counsel-
ing tasks, and down at the bot-
tom of the triangle is the law
enforcement task,” Ott said. “It
is certainly not any bigger or
more of a part than the other
two. Law enforcement is really
only a third of that job. I like
that analogy.”
Since the beginning of the
Meals
from 1A
County residents as possible
given the funding available.”
She said that clients can
request frozen meals to be
delivered to supplement their
hot meal deliveries.
In Florence, hot meals are
delivered
on
Monday,
Wednesday and Friday.
“Those requesting additional
frozen meals to supplement the
hot meals will receive them
along with their hot meal,”
Demsky said.
She also pointed out the
ongoing need for volunteers in
Florence.
“Our noon meals are pack-
aged and delivered by volun-
teers. We have two distinct vol-
unteer opportunities and way to
help in your community —
become a Meals on Wheels
2017-18 school year, Ott and
the SRO program have worked
to improve school safety by
having an increased presence in
school facilities; detect and
apprehend students who miss
school; conduct driver safety
talks with teen drivers for Teen
Driver Safety Week; and assist
in traffic enforcement and safe-
ty around the Siuslaw schools
on Oak Street.
“There was a big increase in
the positive interactions with
students, both on and off cam-
pus,” Ott said. “Even in this
short period of time, I’ve run
into these kids at the grocery
store and they recognize me as
an officer, even when I’m not
working. They want to come
talk to me about stuff. It’s been
a huge rapport-building experi-
ence with a lot of the ‘littles.’”
In addition, Ott said he also
investigates thefts at the school.
“They tell you that the No. 1
thing you’re going to do from a
law enforcement perspective in
the school is investigate stolen
cell phones and iPods. I was
like, ‘Really?’ I didn’t think it
was going to be a thing, but it
is. So, hold on to your cell
phones and iPods,” he said.
Florence Police Department
solicits donations from private
parties to provide National
Child Safety Council materials
for area youth, such as online
and real-life safety informa-
tion, anti-bullying pledges and
other educational handouts.
“They have some really cool
stuff for all sorts of different
age groups, like age-appropri-
ate materials for internet safe-
ty,” Ott said. “They also have
cool stuff like stickers and
bracelets, which I call ‘curren-
cy’ at the elementary school.
There’s no quicker way to get-
ting a kid’s attention.”
Florence Police Chief Tom
Turner said that the SRO pro-
gram was able to participate in
Bullying Prevention Month
and drug prevention activities
in October.
Using the National Child
Safety Council materials, Ott
was able to visit classrooms
and interact with students
while promoting healthy
behaviors.
“It’s just great community
interaction,” Turner said.
National Child Safety
Council also provided reflec-
tive trick-or-treat bags which
Florence Police Auxiliary
members handed out at
Florence Justice Center on
Halloween.
“Other than that, we’ve just
been having fun,” Ott said. “I
went on a field trip to Sweet
Creek Falls last month. The
kids thought that was pretty
neat. I also got to let kids pull
the fire alarm for a fire drill,
they thought that was super
cool. It’s just been really fun.”
He said that he gets positive
feedback from students and
staff, though it wasn’t always
that way. For the first month,
students were confused by the
officer’s presence and won-
dered if something was wrong.
“Now, when I’m not there,
they wonder where their officer
is at. Just in that short period of
time,” Ott said. “In a couple
years, we’re going to see some
huge rewards from this pro-
gram.”
Bailey agreed.
“The kids are much more
receptive to the police,” he
said. “That is the community
caretaking and building up that
Delivery Driver or assist in our
Café 60 Kitchen and help pack-
age meals for delivery and
serve our guests in the dining
room at Florence Senior
Center,” Demsky said.
Individuals do not have to be
homebound to receive food
support from Senior and
Disabled services, as they can
stop by the Senior Center and
sit down and to eat a hot, fresh-
ly cooked meal.
Demsky said “a dedicated
team of volunteers and gener-
ous support from the communi-
ty” makes meal delivery possi-
ble.
The Senior Meals Program
serves meals and opportunities
for friendship to people over
age 60, regardless of their
income, in 11 Café 60 Dining
Rooms in Lane County. A fed-
eral grant makes this possible.
Locally, Florence Senior
Center, 1570 Kingwood St.,
hosts the Café 60.
“The Florence Café 60
invites area seniors to join us
for lunch at 11:45 a.m. on
Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays,” Demsky said. “Meals
for both programs are offered
on a donation basis to partici-
pants.”
However, Café 60 observes
the same holiday and furlough
day schedule as the Meals on
Wheels program.
On Café 60 days, people
under 60 may purchase meals
at Florence Senior Center for
$8. For more information, call
541-997-5673.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays,
Singing Pines Café at the
Senior Center serves meals for
$7 for all. For more informa-
tion, call 541-997-8844.
Another
concern
for
Demsky moving into the new
year is the future of the pro-
gram.
“Funding is always a con-
cern as federal funds cover
only 70 percent of the costs
required to operate at current
service levels,” she said.
“Congressional
decisions
about funding levels for non-
defense, discretionary spend-
ing can directly impact this
funding. At the present time,
meal programs across the
nation are waiting to see what
Congress decides for the
remainder of the federal fiscal
year.”
Demsky said that donations
provide 21 percent of the orga-
nization’s funding.
Individuals interested in
assisting Meals on Wheels are
encouraged to send a charitable
gift to the Senior Meals
Program; PO Box 2313;
Florence OR 97439.
we are doing there. That’s
already showing and taking
effect. It’s very beneficial, even
at this point, and I’m excited to
see where everything goes.”
When he officially steps into
the role, Bailey said he looks
forward to growing the pro-
gram.
According to Ott, the
Siuslaw students are making
him and the SRO program feel
welcome.
“The kids are super creative
and make all sorts of really cool
and cute ‘thank you’ stuff. They
give it to us on a regular basis,”
he said.
He added that he puts their
art up in his office.
Florence Mayor Joe Henry
said, “We really appreciate
your service and efforts. I think
it’s something that builds long-
term and gives a fair perspec-
tive on what the police are
about.”
“It’s great to see the police
giving back to the community
and working with the kids,”
Councilor Joshua Greene said.
“This is all very helpful for
people to realize. The police are
with us, they take care of us,
they are here to protect us and
they can still train and teach the
kids. I think that’s all very won-
derful. Thank you for what
you’re doing.”
For more information about
the
Florence
Police
Department, visit ci.florence.or
.us/police or read the depart-
ment’s monthly newsletter
at
ci.florence.or.us/police/
monthly-reports.
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