School Officers Must Walk A Fine Line

After Firing, Police Clarify Duties

Don’t meet with students alone. Don’t text kids or give them rides. Fist bumps, yes; hugs, no. Be a trusted adult, not a friend.

Commenting after the recent firing of a Manchester school resource officer, Connecticut police officers who work in schools say they live by those words when walking the line between gaining students’ trust and getting too close.

“You’re definitely a cop first. They have to remember who you are,” said Ken Precourt, the school resource officer in Windsor Locks.

Former Manchester SRO Travis Francis was terminated on Aug. 27 after a police department internal investigation determined that he crossed boundaries into conduct

unbecoming his position, in part by carrying on lengthy, late-night conversations with middle school students and also because of the content of some of his texts, including sharing restricted information about a sexual assault investigation and advising a student to seek nude photos from a teenage girl, police have said.

Francis, 25, the SRO at Illing Middle School for the past two years, had extensive online conversations with one 13-year-old boy, in particular, police said. The boy’s mother complained to police in April that “there was an inappropriate relationship going on between Officer Francis and her son.”

Francis, who could not be reached for comment, defended himself to investigators doing the internal report, saying he only wanted to help that troubled student and others. In interviews with The Courant, parents of students also came to the former police officer’s defense, calling Travis a generous, caring guardian and saying his punishment was too severe.

But observing boundaries is one of the first lessons SRO trainees must learn, according to Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. When he teaches the nonprofit organization’s basic course, Canady said, he tells trainees: “Don’t friend kids on social media, don’t exchange cellphone numbers and don’t get into a situation where you’re texting a student.”

“Some of this is just self protection,” Canady said. “It’s easy to be falsely accused. You don’t want to make it easier for someone to accuse you of something.”

Francis strayed far from those rules, according to the Manchester internal report. In four weeks from March into April, for example, he and a middle school student exchanged 683 texts, many sent after 10 p.m. and into the early morning hours, police said. Manchester police Lt. Anthony Palombizio, the internal affairs investigator, “explained to Officer Francis that he should not have to be told that texting a student late at night or after hours is inappropriate and that he would already know that there are clear boundaries between a police officer [SRO] and a student.”

Francis responded, according to the report, that he was trying to build a rapport, “being on their level,” with middle school students.

“Officer Francis stated that it is hard because you are ‘trying to get their trust’ and ‘you are trying to build that nurturing rapport, but you don’t want to cross boundaries like you said,’” the report quotes him as saying.

Francis also said that, as a mentor, he needed to be accessible “24/7,” according to the report.

Having confidential conversations with students is part of the job, Canady said, but he and others say that duty does not extend to all hours of the day. They also said officers must use other resources, like referring students to school counselors and psychologists.

The National Association of School Resource Officers says on its website, www.nasro.org, that “officers considered for the job should have at least three years of street experience.”

Middletown police Det. Anthony Gennaro, who worked as an SRO at Middletown High School for five years, said he thought Francis, who was on the Manchester force for about four years, might have been too young for the SRO position.

“I don’t think it’s enough of an age difference” between a 25-yearold and teenage students, Gennaro said. “It’s important to put the right people in those positions.”

Gennaro served as Middletown High School’s SRO from age 36 to 41. Being a father of three children and a soccer and baseball coach helped him in the job, Gennaro said. He also gained perspective from his wife, who is a teacher, he said. Gennaro said he agreed with other SROs about the necessity of walking a fine line.

“You can’t be over-friendly; it’s a balancing act,” he said.

Precourt has been an SRO in Windsor Locks for 14 years. He also is the varsity baseball coach at Windsor Locks High School and the father of twins. He’s been in law enforcement for about 30 years.

“You want to keep that professional image at all times,” he said. “At the same time, you form a bond with some kids who end up trusting you.”

After Francis was fired, Manchester Schools Superintendent Matt Geary wrote a letter to the community saying the police investigation showed Francis “exercised exceedingly poor judgment.” At the same time, Geary said, the district remains committed to the SRO program “and our strong, positive, important partnership with the Manchester Police Department.”

A new SRO has been posted at the middle school, he said, part of a team that includes two resource officers at Manchester High School, another who serves the district’s alternative education programs and a lieutenant/supervisor.

“In this time of great concern regarding violence in schools,” Geary wrote, “school resource officers are a vital part of our work to ensure school safety.”

“You want to keep that professional image at all times. At the same time, you form a bond with some kids who end up trusting you.”

Ken Precourt

Windsor Locks School Resource Officer for 14 Years