The Milford School resource officer pilot program, which started at the beginning of this school year, came under scrutiny during Milford Town Council’s regular meeting last night after Town Marshal Rich Miotto presented a two-page report detailing the program. Contributing to the report was Milford School Principal Cindy Kaiser and Assistant Principal Ryan Connor.

Council president Doug Ruch expressed his concern that, when the program began, it was his understanding there would be more detailed journals that could show taxpayers exactly what has been done and that the reports would be regularly presented to the council.

“I was not in support of it (the pilot program),” said Ruch. “Now halfway through it, I don’t see a reason to continue it. I don’t have the data to make a decision by December.”

“If asked to break it down to minutes or hours,” Miotto said, “I don’t think that is possible.”

He noted the program was about the interaction with the students, adding they don’t just stand in the cafeteria for four hours, they patrol the school, interact with students, talk in classrooms and have even read books to the students.

Ruch asked how many felony arrests the department had been ale to prosecute via information gathered at the school. Miotto answered that there had been none.

Ruch then asked, in the 220 hours officers had spent at the school, how many threats had been defused. Miotto stated there had been none, but noted there is a squad car sitting outside the school, which might dissuade some people.

Miotto added they have dealt with troubled kids at the school and are working on a battery, however, there had been no adult threats. No guns have been brought to the school, though there was a homemade knife found. Officers have also been policing truants, though Ruch noted this could easy be done by a patrol officer.

Fellow council member Robert Cockburn then posed the rhetorical question, “How many robberies would there be in Milford without a police department? That’s my point, you don’t know.”

Cockburn went on to describe how a teacher had asked an officer to speak with their students. “I was fascinated by the connection he had made with some of the kids,” Cockburn said, noting that many of the kids needed such connections. “It’s those connections that are made that can prevent problem,” he added. “You can’t measure those. That’s what is challenging about this program. How do you measure it?”

Throughout the discussion, Miotto noted how the world has changed, saying shootings have happened in cafeterias and at recess. “All scenarios have happened, it’s just the world we live in,” he said.

Miotto also stated that, so far, he has received positive feedback from parents and school employees.

Ruch stressed, “The initial reason the program was put in place was it was thought we would have information to make a decision. It boils down to these other two gentlemen (Cockburn and Dan Cochran) and the school board.”

The issue will be further discussed and decided on at the town council’s next regular meeting at 7 p.m. Dec. 9.