GLOUCESTER 一 The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) has named Gloucester Police School Resource Officer Peter Sutera as the national school resource officer of the year.
Officer Sutera joined Gloucester Police as a reserve officer in 2005 and became a full-time officer in 2009. A member of the department’s Community Impact Unit, Officer Sutera has worked as a school resource officer at the elementary and middle school levels for seven years now.
For the past two years, he has also served as the handler of Ace, the department’s 2-year-old comfort dog, who accompanies Officer Sutera to numerous school events.
Sutera said the programs he is most proud of are the SRO_Gaming program, in which police officers meet with students online to play video games and bond with students, and the Youth Anglers program, in which police officers take students fishing. Officer Sutera shared credit for those programs with his colleagues from the Community Impact Unit, including Officer Joe Parady and Officer Mike Scola, the school resource officer at Gloucester High School.
Gloucester Police School Resource Officer Peter Sutera
Both programs have enabled Sutera and other officers to form relationships and bond with students in a way that goes beyond the interactions most people have with patrol officers, and both programs have helped police form relationships with youth.
“My main goal is to have kids not look at me as a police officer they’d see on the street. I work more toward connections and the relationship building,” said Officer Sutera. “If there is ever an issue outside of school, I hope students will come to me for help instead of avoiding the police. I work hard to try and bridge the gap to make kids feel comfortable enough to approach me not only as a police officer but as a friend.”
“This acknowledgement of SRO Peter Sutera speaks to the great work Pete and Ace do day in and day out at the elementary and middle school grade levels in the Gloucester school system,” said Lt. Jeremiah Nicastro, commander of the Community Impact Unit. “Officer Sutera’s outreach efforts to our Gloucester youth through the Community Impact Unit’s SRO_gaming and Youth Anglers Program are innovative community policing initiatives that have strengthened the Community Impact Unit’s efforts in building connections with our community, especially our youth.”
“Our Community Impact Unit team members are a talented group of individuals, who support each other to enhance service and delivery to our community,” added Lt. Nicastro. “I am proud to see School Resource Officer Sutera being recognized on a national level for his service to the Gloucester Police Department and Gloucester’s youth.”
“Officer Sutera’s hard work and dedication to his job have been recognized on a national level, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we are very proud of him,” said Chief Ed Conley. “He has demonstrated a deep commitment to the safety and well-being of the students and it’s clear that his efforts have not gone unnoticed.”
National organization to present awards during June ceremony in Indianapolis
Published Friday, May 12, 2023 8:00 am
May 12, 2023 — HOOVER, Ala. — The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) announced that it will present its 2023 Floyd Ledbetter National School Resource Officer of the Year Award to Officer Peter Sutera of the Gloucester (Massachusetts) Police Department. The award recognizes school resource officers (SROs) who have made specific and significant contributions to their local communities or school districts. SROs are specifically trained law enforcement officers assigned to work in schools.
NASRO will present this award and others Friday, June 30 during a ceremony in Indianapolis as part of its annual National School Safety Conference.
“Officer Sutera has truly closed gaps between law enforcement and youth through multiple initiatives of his own creation,” said NASRO executive director Mo Canady. “For example, he introduced an online gaming program in which children across Gloucester play video games with the SRO and each other, competing for prizes sponsored by local businesses. Realizing a need for emotional support, Officer Sutera volunteered for the additional training he needed to implement a comfort dog program. And perhaps one of Officer Sutera’s biggest successes is a summer fishing program he started, through which he and fellow police officers take students and their parents on half-day fishing trips. That program now runs five days a week, with a waiting list of eager participants.”
NASRO also announced that it will present its National Award of Valor for acts of courage and valor above and beyond what would normally be expected, to five individuals:
- Officer Rex Engelbert and Detective Michael Collazo of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department ended the tragic shooting at The Covenant School March 27 by confronting and firing at the shooter, fatally wounding them within 14 minutes of the first report of the incident.
- Nathan Tietz is dean of students at Burke High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Last January, Mr. Tietz restrained a student who was attacking other students with a knife. The student continued to swing the knife, narrowly missing Mr. Tietz’ face, as the dean continued to push the attacker away.
- Officer Sarah Heatherton of the Maroa (Illinois) Police Department single handedly subdued an armed and resistant suspect in the stabbing of another student at her high school in November 2022. The assailant was still armed with a large steak knife when Officer Heatherton disarmed and detained him. The stabbing victim suffered serious injuries in the attack.
- Officer Jonathan Hobbs of the Bellevue (Nebraska) Police Department de-escalated a potential domestic violence incident in May 2022 in which a 13-year-old student of one of his schools was an assailant. Through the rapport Officer Hobbs had built with the teen at school, he convinced her to drop an axe with which she was threatening her grandparents.
In addition to those listed above, NASRO will present the following awards during its June 30 ceremony:
The Chief Nicholas C. Derzis Safe Schools Leadership Award for contributions and dedication to an SRO program will go to Lt. Shane Wallace of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Police Department, Houston.
The Bridge the Gap Award for activities that demonstrate a significant commitment to positive behavioral intervention services and at-risk youth will go to Officer Juan Navarrete of the Carmel Police Department, Indiana.
Exceptional Service Awards for continuous and sustained service to the school community above and beyond that normally expected of an SRO will go to:
- Officer Charles McFarland, Vero Beach Police Department, Florida
- Officer James Beck, Cumberland Police Department, Maryland
- Officer David Watts, Quaker Valley School District Police Department, Leetsdale, Pennsylvania
- Officer Keith Medeiros, Bristol Police Department, Rhode Island
- Officer Jared Rowley, Topeka Police Department, Kansas
- Pamela Revels, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Opelike, Alabama
- Marty Rustvold, security supervisor, Oklahoma City Public Schools, Oklahoma City
- Officer Jacob Harlow, Pierre Police Department, South Dakota
- Officer Zach Keirsey, Wilsonville Police Department, Oregon
- Chris Ruiz, Pleasant Grove Police Department, Utah
- Deputy Director Adullrahaman Al Mamari, Dubai Police Department, United Arab Emirates
- Rudolph Pratt, Royal Bahamas Police Force
The Model SRO Agency Award for exemplifying in training, policies and standards, the NASRO triad concept — which describes an SRO’s role as mentor, guest lecturer and law enforcement officer — and for demonstrating creative and innovative approaches to school-based policing, will go to:
- Allen County Sheriff’s Department, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Cambridge City Police Department, Indiana
- Carmel Clay Schools, Carmel, Indiana
- Fox Chapel Area School District Police Department, Pittsburgh
- Hailey Police Department, Idaho
- Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Lexington, Missouri
- Lawrence Police Department, Kansas
- Ligonier Police Department, Indiana
- Los Lunas School Police Department, Los Lunas, New Mexico
- Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, Gallatin, Tennessee
- Thornton Police Department, Colorado
The International Exemplary Agency Award, for an international agency that demonstrates the same attributes as recipients of the model agency award above, will go to the Dubai Police Department, United Arab Emirates.
The SRO Social Award, for effectively utilizing social media to promote the SRO position, school, and agency, will go to Officer Adriana Nave of the Lindsay Police Department, California.
The National Road Safety Foundation Innovation in the Classroom Award, for demonstrating the use of innovative methods in teaching traffic safety to teens will go to Deputy David Haun of the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office, Talladega, Alabama.
NASRO will announce later the recipient of the NASRO Instructor of the Year Award, for instructors who demonstrate excellence in teaching NASRO courses while continuously performing above and beyond the call of duty.
About the NASRO National School Safety Conference
NASRO’s 33rd annual, global, National School Safety Conference takes place June 28 through July 3 at the JW Marriott Indianapolis. The conference provides opportunities for attendees to learn best practices for SRO and other school safety programs. It also provides networking opportunities to SROs and other law enforcement officers, as well as school security and safety officials, school board members, administrators and anyone interested in school safety. Complimentary credentials are available to working journalists who wish to cover the conference. Please contact Jay Farlow, using the information below, to reserve press credentials.
About NASRO
NASRO is a nonprofit organization for school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators, and school security and safety professionals working as partners to protect students, school faculty and staff, and the schools they serve. NASRO is headquartered in Hoover, Alabama, and it was established in 1991. For more information, visit www.nasro.org
