ICS without School Resource Officer

Chief Selby, “neither confirms nor denies” any issues

 

IMLAY CITY — Late last week, the office of the Imlay City School Resource Officer, Anthony Easlick, was cleared out and he is no longer on campus as the SRO for the district.

The Imlay City police department has confirmed that Officer Easlick is still on the department.

Police Chief Brett Selby has said very little about any alleged incident that may or may not have happened on the ICS campus.

In a prepared, three line statement, Chief Selby said, “Officer Easlick is still a valuable employed member of the Imlay City Police Department. We are currently working through some challenges along with the school district.”

He was quick to point out, “The safety and security of the students and teachers are (still) are our number one priority.”

Chief Selby said there has been no disciplinary action taken against Officer Easlick by the department and he is still on the PD roster.

He also told the Tri-City Times he could not confirm, nor deny, that an incident of some nature took place.

Officer Easlick was also serving as the Imlay City trap shooting coach but has since stepped down from that position as well.

A number of people on social media platforms have commented on issues in one of the parking lots of the school district this school year. Neither police nor the district have acknowledged any situations.

Supt. Stu Cameron, in an email to the Tri-City Times said, “After some discussion with district leadership and the ICPD, the district decided to release our SRO back to the ICPD for the time being. With that said, our students and staff will not go without safety coverage at the schools.’

He went on to add, “In partnership with the City, we’ve made arrangements for school coverage as needed from the ICPD. The district will continue with the School Resource Officer program and I expect we’ll return to the coverage model familiar to those in and around the schools in short order.”

According to Dr. Cameron, the funding for police coverage at the schools, be it through the SRO program or via a model like the one we’ll observe for the immediate future, is generated through the recent county-wide safety millage.

Supt. Cameron noted, “Those funds have been designated for community and school safety, and they will continue to be utilized in that manner.”

The district’s top administrator said the district has a strong partnership with the City and the ICPD. “We’re fortunate that those entities have always held school safety as critically important – well before any millage existed!”

Supt. Cameron said the district has been fortunate to have a number of outstanding SROs in the schools over the years, and have always been protected and cared for by local officers.

“Put simply, the schools themselves and school-based safety initiatives have always been a priority of the ICPD whenever we’ve needed them. Expect that to continue in both the short and long term,” Supt. Cameron concluded in his statement.

Chief Selby said there are, “a lot of moving parts (for the elimination of the position) and this will take a few days to unfold, I am guessing. There’s not a lot I can say, currently.”

As recently as January 9, with a post on their Facebook page, the school district lauded the work of Officer Easlick, saying, “We want to say THANK YOU to our local, county, and state law enforcement partners today and every day. Thank you for working collaboratively alongside us in keeping our schools and community safe!

And, of course, a special shoutout to ICS Liaison Officer Tony Easlick!”