Going into the 2023-24 MCHS school year, there are a few questions about our new student resource officer, Officer Cody Teltow, Officer Jacob McVey’s new position, and the SRO system overall.

“My new title starting this past July is Safety Director… so I’m still an officer, but then I supervise the officers in every building and then the Cub Checkpoint, so he (Cub Checkpoint Manager Brad Warren) does maintenance and security stuff for us. He is a really good communicator, which is awesome out there. Now, like today (Friday, August 25th), I just got done working with Jay, our Facilities Director, about signage. Putting up for crosswalks, you know you are more likely on school property to get hit by a vehicle than about any other incident, as far as stats show that. So getting signage up more crosswalks, another thing to prevent crime that I get to work on is building threat assessments.”

With this new system, there is a lot of ‘crime prevention through environmental design,’ for example. 

“Crime prevention through environmental design, so our keyless entry, work a lot with our cameras, we also have our raptor management system, so anyone that comes onto our property during school hours, we scan their government ID and checks for sex predators, and then our ALICE or active shooter, all of our different drills that we have that every teacher should have up in their classroom including the emergency flipchart,” McVey explained.

Some focal points for school SROs have been education, signage, and training both students and teachers in case of emergency.

“…focusing in on man-made disasters but also natural disasters, so I get to do a lot of that stuff. Also, if you notice the window graphics around, working on those now; just got them out there. So that is something that has a dual purpose: crime prevention through environmental design, trimming trees, putting up walk signs, and stuff like that. And then putting up signs and graphics shows ownership to you guys, so it looks good, but things like that also cut down on crime, but also if there were were something to happen or a bullet or anything like that was to hit it instead of shattering, it would help it stay together,” stated McVey.

Officer McVey has spent a great deal of time helping Madison schools become a safer place, but he did not start his career in that area. Like many professions, he eventually found that his passion is keeping kids safe.

“So this year is over my 10th year I’ve been in the school system. I started off as an Indiana Conservation Officer. My first four deaths that I worked were drowning and ATV wrecks with youth, so I really fell in love with kids at a young age and want to help them out, so I started going to elementary schools doing water safety, giving out lifejackets and I just loved that, it hit home in my heart because those were my two first things I worked with. Then that’s when the School Resource Officer thing really came about, and when the position opened up in Jefferson County, here, which is where I’m from, I had an interview with the Sherrif and everything, and the rest is history.”

Some people might question the presence of a police officer on campus. McVey explained that is not the intent. According to McVey, the goal is to keep students safe, not to intimidate them.

“This whole proposal is for them (students) and staff and the community. Like I said, after one of the last safety specialist trainings I went to, the Superintendent of Marshall County was there and was talking about what makes the kids feel safer after they had the tragic incident with the school shooting in Marshall County from the student’s standpoint, it was more officers (SROs). So, if you get the right officer in that position, it can just make people feel safer. Have a positive mentor, build relationships, and then, if something does happen, they can take out the threat. But there have been a lot more positive interactions over the last two years. We’ve had over 5,400 positive encounters and a little over 100 arrests, and only one was where a kid had to get handcuffed. So it’s not things that we do, or at least we are not after to arrest kids; that’s not what we do. We are there to build relationships and keep everyone safe,” McVey added.

With McVey accepting his new position, that left MCHS without its resource officer. Soon after, Teltow was introduced as his replacement.

Teltow said, “Before this, I was at Seymour Police Department. I worked there for three years. Before Seymour, I was actually at the IU campus in Columbus. I was working the police department there for two years. So I’ve been in law enforcement for about five years in total.”

“It’s just building those relationships. That is probably the best part about it. I am coaching football as well, at the end of the day, building those relationships, becoming “call it friends” with everybody in the school. That is one of my main goals, is to know everyone, see what they like to enjoy.” Teltow continued.

The aforementioned coaching position was icing on the cake for Teltow, and he looks forward to positively impacting Madison Schools on the gridiron and in the hallways.

“One goal is to continue building,” Teltow continued, “to see what me and Officer McVey can do to make everybody else feel safe. (I want to) continue coaching; I enjoy coaching. That’s one thing I told my wife when I came here. I was like, hey, if I accept this job, I really want to coach, too. I’m super excited about it; I am also about to have a baby of my own. So that will change a lot, but I am excited about it as well.” 

Overall, there are a few minor changes to our system, like the signage, crime prevention through environmental design, and, of course, Officer McVey changing positions and Officer Teltow being the new lead SRO. Although McVey has changed positions, Officer Teltow plans to continue to set a similar example as McVey’s