School resource cop out to prove he's not so scary

Milliken police officer Tim Handel seems a bit imposing at first, equipped with all the tools no cop leaves the house without.

He cruises around town in a burly Ford Bronco; he carries a gun, a taser, pepper spray, just like every other police officer does. He's always wearing his bulletproof vest, accentuating an already athletic build.

And then you see his endless patience as he shows four groups of 3- and 4-year-olds at Kid's in Motion daycare center that big truck and all the tools he carries. And you see a fluffy, pink mass on the dash of that Ford Bronco -- a stuffed pig that most little kids can't resist. And that's when Handel, the town's school resource officer, isn't so imposing. He's just Officer Tim.

"That was the main reason I stuck it there, for the younger kids to break the idea that cops are big and scary," Handel said of his unofficial partner. "Even the parents get a kick out of it."

The pink pig is nameless, a treasure found when the basement of the police department was being cleaned out. And it's emblematic of Handel's goals for his job: keep kids in school, keep them safe and show them that the police aren't just waiting to get them into trouble.

He's come across parents with younger children who point to him and say, "See that police officer? He's going to arrest you if you don't behave."

That kind of logic doesn't fly with Officer Tim, who will quickly interject: "I'm not gonna arrest you. I'm your friend."

"I don't like when parents build that stereotype up so early," Handel said.

If any of those pre-schoolers had that stereotype built up, it quickly dissipates. They eagerly line up to look at Handel's crime scene kit and riot helmet; they can't help but grin when he turns on the lights and blares the siren for them.

Another part of Handel's job is making the occasional house call when someone who should be in school goes AWOL. On the morning of Oct. 11, he strolls up to the home of a 9-year-old who was a no-show. The 9-year-old answers the door. His excuse is a real gem, too -- he apparently stayed home at the insistence of Mom, while his 12- and 14-year-old siblings were in school that day.

"She had me stay home because I'm babysitting my cat," the boy tells Handel. When the boy ducks back inside to answer the telephone, Handel can only look back and shake his head.

"That's top five, easy, right there," Handel says later. "I've not heard that one."

He's heard 'em all -- they didn't have clean clothes; they had to stay home to babysit brothers and sisters. Some kids just don't want to go, and the parents sometimes don't care enough to send them. Teenagers might be a bit more savvy, trying all the tricks, right down to having their friends call in to excuse them.

It turns out later that the boy has struggled with migraines and other problems since his parents divorced, but Handel calmly reminds a flustered mother that the best place for her son is school.

"Just the fact that she now knows the school is in tune and I'm in tune, I would bet (the boy) will be at school from now on," Handel said.

"Maybe that'll rattle Mom's cage enough."