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5th Annual PASRO School Safety Conference in Harrisburg, PA

5th Annual PASRO School Safety Conference in Harrisburg, Pa.

Participants at the PASRO Conference
On July 24 and 25, 2023, WCASD’s Campus Safety Officers (CSO) John O’Hare, Shane Moyer, John Canterino, and Security Greeter Tom Augie attended the 5th Annual School Safety Conference in Harrisburg Pa. Pennsylvania Association of School Resource Officers (PASRO) brings together school resource officers, law enforcement, school security/safety professionals, school board members, and school administrators with the goal of providing best practices for keeping our kids and communities engaged and safe.

Over the two-day conference, several speakers spoke to the 200-plus attendees. Here are just a few of the professionals that spoke at the conference:

  • Darryl Hunter is a 34-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department –shared strategies to reach the understood. Officer Hunter shared his story of how he was born into generational poverty and survived to become a decorative officer and mentor to children and young adults in the city of Baltimore.
  • Casey Jones serves as an Outreach Manager with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) - explained how NCMEC works with families, victims, private industry, law enforcement, and the public to assist with preventing child abductions, recovering missing children, and providing services to deter and combat child sexual exploitation.
  • Marcia Bronstein, Regional Director American Jewish Committee, and Hilary Levine, Associate Director of the American Jewish Committee - spoke about Anti-Semitism in America and how to overcome it.
  • Eric Patterson, Threat Management Coordinator for the FBI - discussed preventing targeted violence evolving threats, and evolving solutions. Agent Patterson provided a detailed analysis of the recent threats of targeted violence facing our communities.
  • Max Schachter is a national school safety advocate. His son Alex is one of the 17 victims murdered in the Parkland School shooting. Max devotes his life to making schools safe. He spoke about that horrific day and the mistakes that were made and what can be done to prevent any further tragedies.
  • Jim French is a retired police officer and drug recognition expert instructor and trainer -  gave a comprehensive overview of THC, synthetic cannabinoids like Delta 8, HHC, drug trends, and gummies. Jim also spoke about medical marijuana/therapeutic use.
  • An agent from Homeland Security - spoke about human trafficking. Human trafficking involves using force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some labor or commercial sex act. Sex trafficking exists, but it is not the only type of human trafficking. Forced labor is another type of human trafficking; both involve the exploitation of people.

PASRO believes that partnerships between schools, students, parents, and school-based policing create safer communities and a safer Pennsylvania. This conference provided a unique opportunity to enhance training skills and to improve the overall safety of the students and staff in the WCASD schools and community.