2nd officer now patrols Seneca
JACKSON TWP — There are about 4,000 students, staff and faculty on the Seneca Valley secondary campus on school days, nearly doubling the township’s population.
It is in the interest of keeping those people safe that the township and school district have partnered, recently increasing from one to two full-time school resource officers.
Given the size of the secondary campus, it made good sense to have two officers on patrol there on school days, Township Police Chief Terry Seilhamer said.
“Seneca Valley is one of the three biggest school districts in Western Pennsylvania. It’s a huge campus with three massive buildings, the one officer can’t be everywhere at once,” Seilhamer said.
After securing funding last year through a state grant, the township hired a new full-time officer — Officer Jason Young, 39, of Saxonburg, started patrolling the schools in February.
Young patrols the senior high school, while officer Hunter Ryan patrols the intermediate high school. The two men take turns patrolling the middle school, parking lots and other areas of the property.
In light of some of the school shootings that have occurred in recent years, having two officers on the property is welcome and reassuring for people, Young said.
Until Young’s hiring, the district had one resource officer for 15 years.
