Due to the increase of school shootings and intruders across the country, UAHS has added extra police officers to help ID students at the senior doors. Here we introduce just three of the officers you may have seen during the school day.
By Ally Melnik, ’18
Officer Phillips
Q: What’s your name?
A: Mark Phillips.
Q: For what department do you work for?
A: Upper Arlington Division of Police.
Q: How long have you been a police officer?
A: 19 years.
Q: How often have you patrolled at UAHS (as of when the photo was taken)?
A: This is my fourth shift here.
Q: Why do you think extra officers at schools is an effective way to help combat school shootings/intruders?
A: I think our presence certainly would help deter some of those that may be having thoughts of doing anything like that and I think more — well obviously, I think it’s not practical to have everybody here all the time, but as much as we can be here, I think is a good idea.
Q: What else do you think schools should do to prevent emergencies from occurring?
A: The bottom line is you’re not going to be able to prepare for every eventuality, whether it be a good thing or a bad thing. You just have to stay on top of the latest training trends for things like that — active shooters and so forth — and be cognizant of your surroundings and the people around you and what’s going on.
Officer Amweg
Q: What’s your name?
A: Jason Amweg.
Q: For what department do you work for?
A: Upper Arlington Police.
Q: How long have you been a police officer?
A: Nine years.
Q: How often have you patrolled at UAHS (as of when the photo was taken)?
A: This is my first day.
Q: Why do you think extra officers at schools is an effective way to help combat school shootings/intruders?
A: More security would make anything more secure.
Q: What else do you think schools should do to prevent emergencies from occurring?
A: Just continuously train so they know — it’s not a surprise if something does happen. Just be prepared.
Officer Walker
Q: What’s your name?
A: Matthew Walker.
Q: For what department do you work for?
A: Upper Arlington Police Department.
Q: How long have you been a police officer?
A: Two years.
Q: How often have you patrolled at UAHS (as of when the photo was taken)?
A: This is my second time.
Q: Why do you think extra officers at schools is an effective way to help combat school shootings/intruders?
A: Just having another officer to help out the school resource officer if anything were to go down. He’s already told me that he feels more comfortable having a second officer here in spite of what’s been going on lately around the country. It’s always good to have another first responder close by.
Q: What else do you think schools should do to prevent emergencies from occurring?
A: I’m not too sure about that.