Bufordsecurity 
Norwalk — Three resource officers have been added to city schools since the beginning of the school year.
Norwalk Police now has five full-time SROs throughout the district, said Deputy Chief James Walsh. Two of the officers are already SROs, and this year he has added three.
“Additions were made this year because we had talent,” Walsh said. “We also employ five guards every day after hours to patrol schools that are geographically located nearby.”
The money for the security hire was unused payroll funds from last fiscal year, Walsh said.
Two of the police officers are stationed at the district’s public high school, Walsh said. Officer Vidal Goness is stationed at Norwalk High School and Officer Raul Aldarond serves at Brien McMahon High School.
The officers have been with the unit since 2004 and 2015, respectively. department annual report.
The remaining three SROs are Cornell Abruzzini, Kimberly Prada and Christopher Holmes, who have been in the division since 2012, 2014 and 1997 respectively.
“These three officers are geographically assigned to a combination of middle school and elementary school,” Walsh said.
The additional SROs are part of our efforts to strengthen the security of our district’s schools. Explosion notice series It rocked Norwalk High School last December.
All SROs and officers patrolling school grounds are armed, NPS safety and security supervisor Ryan Harold said at a school board workshop on school security earlier this month.
In addition to the new SRO, Norwalk schools have added security guards to each of the district’s middle and high schools, Harold said. A Floater Guard will be hired as needed to fill in for another guard and will be placed in schools in high need when they are not filling in for another guard.
But the guards weren’t armed, Harold said.
“I cannot give enough credit to the work our security guards do every day to not only keep us safe, but as leaders, to really build relationships with our students and staff. They are an integral part of the school community,” Harold said.
In addition to the SRO, there are four guards at each middle school and two guards at each high school, Harold said.
There are a total of 10 security guards in the district, with others stationed in other programs run by NPS.
“I spoke with[Norwalk Police]today and the feedback from schools around SRO has been incredible,” Harold said. “Have that presence and build those relationships. Last year we had three organizations with more reactive roles, such as supporting school incidents, but two more have been added. I don’t know how the NPD is doing, but the NPS is hitting 1,000.”
Each Norwalk police officer also has a master key fob for every school in the city, Harold said, so they can get in quickly when responding to a case.
“Schools and students are police priorities, regardless of questions, timelines, needs, or resources needed. The NPD has responded to all requests made over the last year,” said Harold. .
With the addition of SROs and security guards, the district added fences and updated security cameras to schools in the city during the summer.
Abigail Brone can be reached at abigail.brone@hearstmediaact.com.
