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Officers' new book gives kindergarteners a look behind the badge

JANESVILLE — Before school resource officer Rick Mussey even began his presentation, students in Shelley Lemirande’s first-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary School in Janesville shot up their hands to ask questions.

Mussey, who sat on a small stool to be level with the children, politely asked them to save their questions until the end.

“Getting into the schools really opened up my eyes to the attitude that some of the kids had,” Mussey said. “I thought, if we can get into the classrooms as early as possible to talk about positive things, it might help their foundation, their thought.”

Mussey, who started with the Janesville Police Department in 1984, has been the school resource officer at Edison Middle School since 2001.

He and fellow resource officer Kevin Olin created a new book to share with kindergarten classes throughout the Janesville School District. They’re hoping it helps answer some of the questions that children have about police officers and their work.

The book, titled “A Day with a Janesville Police Officer,” has plenty of photos of officers performing their duties. The book was designed to be a part of the curriculum the officers use when they visit the classrooms each year.

The goal of the book is to promote positive relationships between police officers and children, Mussey said.

Read the full story in the Dec. 15, 2010 e-edition of The Wednesday Janesville Messenger, HERE.