"We really hope that we can involve students more in reporting, anonymously if they choose, unlawful activity going on at their or any other schools," said WCSD police chief Mike Mieras. "We can really use the help that students can provide regarding problems like guns, drugs, thefts, and graffiti. Kids can be our eyes and ears at the school level. Parents can also contribute to this effort enormously by letting us or Secret Witness know about criminal behavior."
To get the word out to students at the middle and high school level, Chief Mieras and Secret Witness undertook a poster project with the Pine Middle school art department. Students submitted their ideas. Out of the dozens of entries received, two designs were chosen to become final posters that will be prominently displayed in school hallways and on bulletin boards.
"Secret Witness generously donated the funds needed to finalize the two poster designs and to print 500 of them that we have distributed to our middle and high schools, " Mieras said. Each school received 10 posters.
Mieras said that he and Secret Witness both had confidence that the posters would have the desired effect of fighting school crime. "The bottom line," said Mieras, "is to make our schools as safe and secure as we can possibly make them for our kids, teachers, and parents. We can't, of course, guarantee 100% safety all of the time, but with students' help we can make a big difference."
The Secret Witness number is 329-6666.
