The Munster Police Department currently has three officers assigned to our local schools. Each of our officers work full-time as school resource officers throughout the school year and have been certified through the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy and National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). Our school resource officers provide safety instruction, promote safety on our school campuses, and more. As we begin our new school year, here is more information about our school department’s three school resource officers:
OFFICER KEVIN COOLEY has served with the Munster Police Department for 26 years and is the School Resource Officer at Wilbur Wright Middle School where he was assigned in 2023. He provides D.A.R.E. instruction to the 8th grade students each school year and is also present at many of the school’s extra curricular events throughout the year. Officer Cooley previously served in the Patrol Division (as a certified Field Training Officer), Detective Bureau, and Tactical Patrol Unit and has been awarded the department’s Officer of the Year Award along with several other honors.
OFFICER JAMES GHRIST has served with the Munster Police Department for 24 years and is the School Resource Officer for all five local elementary schools. He has been the D.A.R.E. Officer for 20 years and provides safety instruction to pre-K through 8th grade. Officer Ghrist supervises the National Night Out Celebration, Cops & Kids holiday shopping program, Choice Community Council, and Neighborhood & Business Crime Watch Programs and assists with car seat installations and security assessments. He has received the department’s Officer of the Year Award and D.A.R.E. Indiana Officer of the Year Award. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and his Master’s Degree in Public Safety Administration.
K-9 OFFICER BRAD RIEMERTS has served with the Munster Police Department for 5 years and is the new School Resource Officer at Munster High School along with his K-9 partner, Skye. K-9 Skye is certified as a narcotics-detecting and comfort K-9 and will be present daily with Officer Riemerts at the high school and during many of the school’s or other community events. He is a U.S. Army veteran and served in our Patrol Division and K-9 Unit for which he helps to organize the annual K-9 Golf & Family Outing as a fundraiser each year.
In addition to our resource officers, members of our Patrol Division will be regularly working school zones during arrival and dismissal times and will also be stopping in at the local schools while on patrol or during safety drills in an effort to further promote safety. If you have any safety concerns during the school year, please contact one of our SRO’s or your school principal. Always report suspicious activity in progress right away by calling 911.
Residents can meet our School Resource Officers and to learn more about school safety at our next Munster Crime Watch Meeting on September 26th (more information on Page 3).
