Last month, Mayfield Village Officer Andrew Duffy replaced Officer Stuart Galicz as the School Resource Officer at the high school.

Officer Duffy, who’s worked in law enforcement since 2011 and was the former SRO at Center Elementary, hopes to create a friendly environment for all students. He said, “People do need to understand that I’m here first as a police officer and then as an SRO but that doesn’t change the fact that this door is always open.”

Officer Duffy understands the transition of a new SRO can be difficult, especially as he replaces someone who was popular among students. “Officer Stuart ran everything like a very open-door policy, and I want to continue that. I want people to feel like they can come to talk to me and use me as a support system and for education purposes,” Officer Duffy said.

He also appreciates the warm welcome to Mayfield by the students, teachers, and administration. He said, “Administration, as far as principals, have all been very opened-armed to having me come in here. The sudden change has been kinda hard for people.”

Junior Kaylee Roy was close with Officer Stuart, and she feels a new SRO will be a difficult adjustment for the students at Mayfield. She said, “I think that it is something that affects everybody, and I think that it will be a hard obstacle for everybody to overcome.”

Despite this, Roy is still grateful for what Officer Duffy has done so far to build relationships with students. She said, “I personally love him. I think he is the sweetest – he is so nice, [and] he knows how to hold a conversation very well, and I love talking to him.”

Roy thinks it’s important to have an SRO at Mayfield because not everyone feels comfortable talking to teachers and parents about problems they might be having. “Because a lot of students don’t feel comfortable going to teachers to talk to them, and I think having an officer here that students can talk to freely makes us feel heard and makes us feel safe.”

Although Officer Duffy has only been working at the high school since October, principal Jeff Legan feels Officer Duffy has already done a good job of connecting with the students. He said, “He’s got a great personality, easy to connect with, cares about the students and just the safety of everyone in the building.”

Legan also appreciates that Officer Duffy has previous relationships with some students from his time at Center Elementary. Legan said, “I think he’s done a really nice job just trying to walk through the halls just trying to get to know students.”

As Officer Duffy begins his new assignment, Legan sees this as a new opportunity to collect feedback about how to make the high school a safer environment for everyone. Legan said, “I want to hear from the students in here about their perspective about what they feel needs to be changed, so not only along with that, but just having a sit-down conversation with Officer Duffy and just seeing what from his outside perspective, he thinks that we need here and then just trying to build a plan.”

Duffy has appreciated the acceptance he has received from everyone since starting at the high school. He said, “[I’m] just trying to find the right way to connect with people has been what I’ve been focusing on since I got here.”