The popular policeman based since September 2012 at New Canaan High School will move on from the ‘school resource officer’ role following his recent promotion, officials say.
New Canaan Police Sgt. Jason Kim
Sgt. Jason Kim has been assigned as a youth officer in the New Canaan Police Department’s Investigative Section, and a search for his successor as SRO is underway, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski.
Interviews with officers who have expressed interest in succeeding Kim in the highly visible, important SRO job will commence next week and a new person could be in place at 11 Farm Road by the first week of November.
“He’s done a great job,” Krolikowski said of Kim. “He’s a pretty exceptional school resource officer. Everyone knows him at school. They trust him. He has built relationships and I don’t think he could have done a better job than he has.”
The SRO is based at NCHS during school hours and responsibilities include interacting and connecting with New Canaan teens. According to Krolikowski, qualifications for SRO include “a community policing mindset, desire to work with youth, engaging and innovative, able to supervise themselves because much of the day is spent on their own, and a true interest in working with youth and making things better at New Canaan High School.”
Asked to speak to the job Kim as done at the school, Assistant Principal Larry Sullivan said working with him “has been a genuine pleasure.”
“In this role he has been an invaluable resource to students, families, and staff. In and outside classrooms he has educated hundreds of students on aspects of the law that most significantly impact teens and young adults. His office has been a welcoming place for students to find answers to questions and problems. As SRO, Jason consistently performed with respect, warmth, intelligence, sound judgment and empathy. His investment in all students’ physical safety and emotional wellbeing had a lasting, sometimes literally life-saving, impact with so many families. When graduates returned to visit NCHS, Jason was frequently one of their first stops in the building thanks to the positive influence he had on so many.”
NCHS Principal Bill Egan called Kim “an asset.”
“He relates well to the students and the entire community. Not having him at NCHS will be a loss, but we are thrilled that he will be running the youth bureau. He can train our new SRO and continue the relationship that he has with the entire community.”