HURLOCK, Md. - For more than two years, the town of Hurlock has been applying for funding for a school resource officer. After the town did not get that funding, it was time to make a plan, according to Mayor Charles Cephas.
Town officials rearranged budgeting for the safety of Hurlock Elementary School.
"The chief of Police, town manager, myself, and the council worked together to bring all the components together so that we were able to have this service," says Cephas.
Hurlock Police Chief Bruce Jones said the funding would be around $80,000. School Resource Officer Crystal Huffman has been in the school for about three weeks. Jones says it's worth it.
"We want to provide a safe educational environment for our students and our educators. I think this is a great step forward. Also, it’s a community policing thing. I have seen, in just the three weeks with officer Huffman in the school, the bonds that she’s already started with the students. I watch them get off the bus to run to her, to hug her, and to say hi," says Jones.
Huffman agrees, saying, "It makes you choke up. It’s amazing that they want to see you and that they want to come up and give you a hug and a high-five. It just means everything.
The town manager says they expect a resource officer in their schools for years to come.
