Officer Mark Walski 9D84 (507) 434-5120 (Ellis Middle School)

Officer Kevin Sederquest 9D86 (507) 433-0400 (Austin High School)

Officers Mark Walski and Kevin Sederquest work with the Austin School District, which has approximately 4,300 students. Officers Walski and Sederquest perform their duties at the Austin schools and take on many roles when dealing with students. They respond to criminal activities that take place on school grounds and enforce laws/city ordinances when applicable during the school year. When school is not in session, Officers Walski and Sederquest transition to the streets as patrol officers.

WHY ARE POLICE OFFICERS IN OUR SCHOOLS?

Police School Liaison and School Resource Officers are in our schools to answer questions about law enforcement and to assist students, parents, and teachers with problems or situations that arise. Each officer has an open door policy and welcomes contact with every student.

The word “liaison” means working together – students, parents, teachers, and police - in a united effort to help students who might experience difficulties. Getting to know one another is the greatest way in the world to prevent problems before they develop.

The Liaison program in Austin has one goal: to prevent delinquency by providing youth with the resources and services they need to stay out of trouble.

The Austin Police Department and Austin Public Schools have the following objectives:

• To develop a close relationship between police officers and students
• To answer questions or reply to concerns through positive contact with police
• To be available for groups, classroom presentations, and general education; for example,  Jr. Police (for the elementary schools), and drug and alcohol awareness
• To build channels of communication to prevent thefts, harassment, and other issues
• To assist other law enforcement officers in Austin and surrounding communities