Meet the new SRO in Seneca Falls Schools

The Town of Seneca Falls, Seneca Falls Police Department, and Seneca Falls Central School District are pleased to announce that Officer Christopher Denny has been named as School Resource Officer. Officer Denny’s appointment to this position follows a year of study and planning by the Seneca Falls Central School District Board of Education/Administration and the Seneca Falls Town Board/Chief of Police. The position, which is new to the Town, Department and School District, will provide resource support to students, staff, and the school community. The School Resource Officer Program goals of education, intervention, and prevention will be provided at all four of the district’s schools. Officer Christopher Denny has been employed as a police officer with the Seneca Falls Police Department since May of 2008 and has been assigned to the road patrol division. He is also one of the department’s field training officers, assigned to teach new officers about the responsibilities and tasks associated with being a police officer. Officer Denny has been a lifelong resident of Seneca Falls and is a 2002 graduate of Mynderse Academy. He is also a 2006 graduate of SUNY Canton, holding both a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Investigations along with an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice. Officer Denny is also a 2006 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence and a 2004 Academic All-American for the SUNY Canton Men’s Varsity Soccer Program. He continues to remain active in the community by volunteering as a coach for the Mynderse Academy Varsity Track Team and has done so for the past 5 years. Officer Denny looks forward to the new position as the School Resource Officer within the Seneca Falls School District and hopes to make connections with students and families, while providing support to overall success and education of students. Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Don Earle and the Town Board have been very supportive of a School Resource Officer in our school district. As times change and the temptation of drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, and higher stress levels on our students increase, a School Resource Officer will be a great tool to be a deterrent to those every day challenges. Most importantly, a School Resource Officer will be a confidante to those students needing someone to talk to. Our community is fortunate to be able to support, assist, and promote the development of our most important asset, our children.Seneca Falls Police Chief, Stu Peenstra, said “Creating the first ever School Resource Officer position has been one of my primary goals since being appointed chief in 2012. I believe the School Resource Officer position will be an integral part in connecting the community with our department. The School Resource Officer Program will provide a resource for students, families, and school staffs to promote education, emphasize preventions, and identify interventions, all for the purpose of helping students achieve overall success, growth, and development.”The Seneca Falls Central School District Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools, Bob McKeveny, see the School Resource Officer Program as a “win-win-win” for the school district, town, and police department. The School Resource Officer further strengthens the already strong and collaborative working relationship between the school district and police department. It also further demonstrates the ability for the school district and town to work together to provide programs and services for residents.Officer Denny will begin School Resource Officer duties in August 2015. The Town of Seneca Falls, Seneca Falls Police Department and Seneca Falls Central School District look forward to the partnership to support students, staff, families, and education.