Students and parents at a Bay area high school are fighting to keep their school resource officer on the job.
Emily Crepeau said kids started bullying her in elementary school and it only got worse in middle school.
Standing in front of Pinellas Park High School Tuesday afternoon, the junior passionately spoke about the high school resource officer who broke the cycle and changed her life.
“He stopped it immediately. Those kids got transferred, disciplinary was in action and I can now walk around the halls feeling safe,” said Crepeau.
Crepeau, her mother Elise and a few former students called a press conference Tuesday.
They’re trying to convince the Pinellas Park Police Chief to keep Officer Harold Behar in his current role as the high school resource officer.
When the school year is over, Officer Behar could fall victim to a department protocol to rotate officers after five years on one assignment.
“There were some issues and I’m not saying every school is perfect but it’s doggone near close and a lot of that is attributed to him,” said Elise Crepeau, Emily’s mother.
Crepeau flipped through dozens of signed petitions at Tuesday’s press conference.
A Facebook page called “Keep Officer Behar” is flooded with comments supporting the effort.
Pinellas Park’s Police Chief is aware. She was out of town and unable to speak to Bay News 9, but a spokesperson said Officer Behar’s tenure ends in August and the chief will make a decision on his future in June.
“If it’s right and it’s a good fit don’t mess it up,” said Elise Crepeau.
The spokesperson for the Pinellas Park Police Department said it’s important to note the rotation program is what brought Officer Behar to Pinellas Park High School.
Pinellas County Schools would not let Bay News 9 on campus to speak to or get video of Officer Behar while on duty.