Katonah-Lewisboro School District Names New School Resource Officer

CROSS RIVER, NY – The Katonah-Lewisboro School District’s newly appointed School Resource Officer isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet.

From the Katonah-Lewisboro School District

Officer Brett Schlosser started the week in the AP psychology class at John Jay High School, introducing the students to fellow Westchester County Police Canine Unit detective John Peters. A few days earlier, he could have been spotted running during a break kickball game with fifth graders at Meadow Pond Elementary. Last month he was a special guest at Increase Miller Elementary’s Gratitude Assembly.

It’s all order of the day for Katonah-Lewisboro’s new School Resource Officer (SRO), Brett Schlosser, who was formally appointed at the December 1 Education Committee meeting.

The Westchester County Police Officer’s background includes SRO training and crisis intervention team training, preparing him to effectively manage crises involving people with mental illness. He was a Rye City Police Officer and served in the US Army for eight years as a medic and combat engineer.

“I’m trying to get around as much as possible,” Officer Schlosser said. “I’m in John Jay Middle and High School every day and my goal is to attend elementary schools two or three times a week. I want students and staff to see police officers as their allies.”

Officer Schlosser’s primary responsibility is to respond to emergencies and crises as they arise. This includes being a resource for nurses when they need an ambulance, as well as coordinating lockdown drills.

One of the first things Officer Schlosser did at Katonah-Lewisboro Schools was make a significant change to how the district administers lockdown drills. Instead of teachers and administrators checking the hallways and other rooms, Officer Schlosser and other first responders are now taking on that responsibility as they would at a real event.

As part of his emergency preparedness plan for the district, he has consulted both Lewisboro and Westchester County Police Departments and has reached out to the Bedford, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Somers and New York State Police Departments, as well as the Ridgefield, Connecticut Police Department. “The reason I’ve approached so many different agencies is because I want them to become familiar with our campus,” Officer Schlosser said. “Not in an emergency. Seconds count there.”

Detective Peters ended his time with AP psychology students by introducing them to Acorn, a playful black lab trained through traditional Pavlovian conditioning techniques to sniff out various substances used to start fires. Officer Schlosser was glad to have connected the class. He’s already thinking about introducing John Jay’s forensics teacher to the Westchester County Police’s cyber investigation dog.