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The Hollister Police Department and the Hollister School District announced that a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant has been awarded to the City of Hollister to fund an additional school resource officer for district schools. 

For the last several months the Hollister School District Superintendent, Gary McIntire, the Hollister Police Department and Gang Prevention Coordinator, Al De Vos, have been working to obtain this United States Department of Justice Grant. The result was a continuation of the partnership with the Hollister School District and the City of Hollister in which both will share the cost of providing an additional SRO.

The $125,000 COPS grant was awarded to the City of Hollister and the grant will partially pay for one school resource officer to work along the current officer who served eight elementary schools and two middle schools. The remaining cost associated with the SRO position will be shared by the Hollister School District and the City of Hollister for a period of four years. 

The partnership was unanimously passed in both the Hollister School District Board of Trustees and the Hollister City Council.

“This is yet another opportunity for our city to partner with Hollister School District for the betterment of not only the students and staff of our schools, but the whole community. Partnerships like this will be a template for improved services in our community,” said Hollister Police Chief David Westrick. 

Testing is being held at the Hollister Police Department for the candidates interested in the position of SRO, whoi will be assigned to work with the current officer, Michael Paddy, and respond to all calls for service at all of the schools in the Hollister School District. Additionally, the officer will be an instructor for the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program. 

“By all measures, the partnership between the City of Hollister and the Hollister School District to provide a School Resource Officer has been a clear success,” said HSD Superintendent Gary McIntire. “Now that we can add another school resource officer, we will be able to redouble our efforts to make our schools and our community ever-more safe, and to have highly visible law enforcement officers who are seen by our students as helpful and approachable persons, above all else.”