School resource officers coming back to Salinas

The Salinas Police Department has been waiting six years for school resource officers (SROs) and now they finally have the funding.

The City of Salinas received $3.4 million to hire eight new officers and thanks to a Community Oriented Policing Services grant.

Since the SROs have been absent from schools, it’s been up to the probation officers to take on more responsibility.

“I’m not that bad of a guy,” said Chester Nakatani, a campus probation officer at Salinas High School for the past seven years.

He knows being law enforcement he has a disadvantage when it comes to developing relationships with students.

“I think they are mostly afraid to talk to me, but once they get to know me they understand that I’m here for a reason,” he said.

The last time both probation officers and school resource officers worked together in Salinas schools was 2008 and Nakatani has had to shoulder the extra responsibility.

“The staff looked at me both as a probation officer and as a police officer, but I’m only a probation officer and they think I can give out tickets and I can’t,” Nakatani said.

That’s about to change, as Salinas is set to hire eight new officers who will replace eight officers on the street as they head to campuses. Those officers will work full time as SROs.

“One of the biggest benefits to having an SRO in the schools on a consistent basis is that the students start to view that officer, not as a police officer but as an individual, as a person that they know,” said Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin.

They will be known soon enough, but there’s no guarantee they’ll stick around because.the money will eventually run out.

“If additional revenue doesn’t come to the City of Salinas, you can anticipate that after four years these SROs will be gone,” said McMillin.

McMillin said it will be at least another year until they can put their recruits through training, and then they can switch out with the officers already on the force.