DeKALB | On Aug. 28, the DeKalb City Council approved the hiring of a second school liaison officer to provide services to School District 428.

All DeKalb schools currently share the services of current police liason Aaron Lockhart, DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen said. The school district examined security needs and concluded that one officer was not adequate to provide sufficient coverage for all of DeKalb’s schools.

“This will allow us to have more focus and it will help us in the long run,” Lockhart said.

According to the school liaison officer job description for DeKalb, a school liaison officer is responsible for maintaining cooperative relationships with school officials, ensuring physical security of the school building, preventing juvenile delinquency with counseling, and many other duties.

“One of the advantages of having an officer at a location is that when we notice a problem with an individual, we can work not only with them but also with the parents right away,” Feithen said.

Feithen said having two officers would allow Lockhart to continue his duties with a focus on DeKalb High School while the new officer would focus more on DeKalb’s middle schools.

Craig Bowers, Clinton Rosette Middle School principal, said the most important aspect of a school liaison officer is to be a link between the community and the police department.

“Right now, we have Lockhart split between three buildings,” Bowers said. “If your primary purpose is to create that link, then that person needs to be more available.”

DeKalb High School Principal Lindsey Hall said a liaison officer’s law enforcement skills are the most valuable part of establishing relationships with students.

“There’s a level of trust that’s built where they’ll come to him for help or information,” Hall said.

Hall noted that while it is vitally important to have a liaison officer available to the high school, it is equally important for the same resource to be available to DeKalb’s middle schools.

Kenneth Lowe is the Police and Fire reporter for the Northern Star.