Relationship Builder: Clymer Hires New School Resource Officer

Pictured is Clymer Central School’s new School Resource Officer, Michael Cronin, who began his work at the school at the beginning of the year.
P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

CLYMER — Clymer Central School has officially hired police officer Michael Cronin to fill the role of School Resource Officer for the district.

Cronin began his work at the beginning of the school year, and has had previous experience in the SRO role. His past experience includes working one day a week to help with security at Lancaster High School, which he did for about 15 years.

“I did it part time before, working in a school and the opportunity arose for doing this full time, or throughout the entire school year,” Cronin said. “I decided I wanted to do something different, and I had a little experience in this role.”

Other previous roles for Cronin include areas such as a firearms supervisor, watch commander, and being on a SWAT team for 18 years. He is a retired SWAT commander, and has served as an instructor for 22 years in various places, such as firearms training and SWAT. Cronin has also worked closely with school districts in the past to work on emergency planning before lockdown drills became the norm in schools.

Cronin described his current job at Clymer as “multi-faceted”, adding that he does a little bit of everything. He said some of the work is security, but a lot of it is focused on building relationships with the kids and the staff. Cronin said his job is similar to community policing.

“I would say the most important part of my job is building those relationships with the kids as a role model and mentor,” Cronin said.

Adding to that, Cronin said he really took the job for the kids and to be able to help them. He said he believes he has enough time and experience and wisdom to be able to help the kids in many different ways.

“It really is all about the kids,” Cronin said. “It’s about keeping them safe and building relationships with them.”