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Roseburg Police Department's Ryan Dingman speaks with RHS students near the bike path in Roseburg Tuesday.
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Roseburg Police Officer Ryan Dingman phones in the names of students he found skipping class near Gaddis Park to Roseburg High School's security Tuesday.
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Roseburg High School campus monitor Ken Frazier talks with Officer Ryan Dingman and a pair of Roseburg High School students who had off-campus passes in Roseburg Tuesday.
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Ditching class for a smoke break may not have been that easy before, but two school resource officers at Roseburg High School are making it even tougher.
Roseburg Police Officers Ryan Dingman and Brent Harvey, new to the beat this fall, have been focusing their attentions lately on students not only on school grounds, but also on the surrounding paths, streets and parks.
Those efforts have led to a spike in citations for minors in possession of tobacco, police say, with nearly double the citations handed out in October over the same time last year.
“We’re kind of focusing on every violation that they’re committing,” Dingman said. “Tobacco just happens to be one of the big violations.”
The two officers issued 27 citations for minors in possession of tobacco last month, compared to 15 in October 2007, said Sgt. Aaron Dunbar, spokesman for the Roseburg Police Department.
Dingman said he hasn’t added up the numbers for this month, but he expects the count to be even higher. The officers have also been citing several students for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and minors in possession of alcohol.
In October, a total of 55 citations were doled out by the two officers to high school-aged youth, Dunbar said. Those also included citations for thefts, harassment, trespassing and other misdemeanors.
Dunbar attributes the high number for tobacco citations more to increased enforcement than an increase in student smoking.
Dingman said he and Harvey have been doing much of their work on foot, checking up on students who meander away from school.
The main goal, he said, is to get the students to stay in their classes. School officials told him they’ve recently seen a 2 percent increase in attendance over this time last year.
“I like to think it’s having an effect,” Dingman said of the enforcement efforts.
Assistant Principal Larry Rich praised the officers’ efforts in patrolling the areas surrounding the school, saying, “The police officers are very visible on the perimeters of campus.”
Rich said the combined efforts of the officers and staff, along with a stricter policy that limits the number of students who can leave campus for lunch, have led to a “calming effect” at the school.
Dingman believes students are realizing that breaking the rules isn’t worthwhile. Until they all realize that, though, he doesn’t expect the enforcement efforts to stop.
“We’re hoping that at some point we won’t be writing the tickets,” he said.
• You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@nrtoday.com.
Roseburg Police Officers Ryan Dingman and Brent Harvey, new to the beat this fall, have been focusing their attentions lately on students not only on school grounds, but also on the surrounding paths, streets and parks.
Those efforts have led to a spike in citations for minors in possession of tobacco, police say, with nearly double the citations handed out in October over the same time last year.
“We’re kind of focusing on every violation that they’re committing,” Dingman said. “Tobacco just happens to be one of the big violations.”
The two officers issued 27 citations for minors in possession of tobacco last month, compared to 15 in October 2007, said Sgt. Aaron Dunbar, spokesman for the Roseburg Police Department.
Dingman said he hasn’t added up the numbers for this month, but he expects the count to be even higher. The officers have also been citing several students for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and minors in possession of alcohol.
In October, a total of 55 citations were doled out by the two officers to high school-aged youth, Dunbar said. Those also included citations for thefts, harassment, trespassing and other misdemeanors.
Dunbar attributes the high number for tobacco citations more to increased enforcement than an increase in student smoking.
Dingman said he and Harvey have been doing much of their work on foot, checking up on students who meander away from school.
The main goal, he said, is to get the students to stay in their classes. School officials told him they’ve recently seen a 2 percent increase in attendance over this time last year.
“I like to think it’s having an effect,” Dingman said of the enforcement efforts.
Assistant Principal Larry Rich praised the officers’ efforts in patrolling the areas surrounding the school, saying, “The police officers are very visible on the perimeters of campus.”
Rich said the combined efforts of the officers and staff, along with a stricter policy that limits the number of students who can leave campus for lunch, have led to a “calming effect” at the school.
Dingman believes students are realizing that breaking the rules isn’t worthwhile. Until they all realize that, though, he doesn’t expect the enforcement efforts to stop.
“We’re hoping that at some point we won’t be writing the tickets,” he said.
• You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@nrtoday.com.
