May 11 Letter to the Editor

I would like to share with you some of the recent activities of the Portales Police Department. Police officers constantly check the school doors to ensure that the buildings are secure. This activity requires them to walk around buildings and to physically pull on doors to make sure they are closed and locked. This is in addition to their regular nighttime activities and requirements. If a door is found unsecured, they notify the principal so that it can be corrected. Getting a phone call in the middle of the night may not be the most comforting dream, but it assures that the schools will be secured in the future.

Currently many of the Portales police officers volunteer off-duty time to come in and work with our second-grade students in an effort to build strong relationships with the students and to work on drug and alcohol prevention. The Adopt-A-Cop Program was developed by Capt. Lonnie Berry many years ago. Officer Kirk Wilson is currently our contact and has done a fine job of coordinating the projects.

The current project is the Adopt-A-Cop Fingerprinting for all second-graders. This will become an annual project in second grade. All students that return a permission form will be fingerprinted and a kit will be sent home for parents to collect DNA samples. The fingerprint kits will be used by the parents when needed for student identification.

I believe our partnership with the Portales Police Department ensures our students a safe and learning environment. I just wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the positive activities that are happening within the schools.

Michael Terry

Principal, James Elementary