Many clubs and organizations at NH have the opportunity to host guest speakers to work with students. On November 15, Deputy Amy Caviston, the advisor to the Criminal Justice Club, invited Deputy Schueler and SGT Phillips to discuss what the special response team they work with does in Harford County.
Two members from the SRT came out and met the club in science teacher Mr. Robert Lamar’s room. The officers are both in the area of a special response team and came out to share different information and equipment to students in the club.
Caviston stated, “they started by doing a PowerPoint and in this presentation they show’d different training they do like breaching doors to get into houses. Overall, they shared a brief overview of all the facts SRT is involved in.”
After the PowerPoint, they all traveled outside to do some interactive activities. The deputy shared, “they brought equipment like vests you could try on with all of the gear on it so you could see how heavy it is for officers daily. They also brought some non-lethal firearms to share.”
One of the officers that came in is a squad leader on the SRT, so he is in charge of three or four different squads with around four or five different officers on the team. Caviston explains that, “they plan their next training and stuff they want to work on when they are not on duty taking calls.”
She also shared that it was hard to tell if the students in the club actually enjoyed the presentation because “their reactions were difficult to read. But overall, they enjoyed more of the interactive stuff than anything else.” This officer said about 21 people signed up for the club but “not everyone shows up.”
Caviston stated, “I do like guest speakers because they can provide so much more than I can. They bring in different perspectives and areas that I am not specialized in. They have more training in the SWAT team and different units like the Traffic team that I can only give a broad overview on.”
Senior Reece Hinkle’s mom is a SRO for Harford County and her mom “knew Deputy Caviston and shared that [she] should join.” Hinkle has been a part of the club for two years and her favorite thing is “just being able to learn new things on the road and how petrol works.”
Through this club, Hinkle shared she is learning more about what to do for college because her dream is to “be a sheriff for Harford County.”
Hinkle claimed, “I have also been looking at becoming a corrections officer in the meantime, because you can’t be a cop until you’re 21 due to the guns they carry. While you’re in corrections from 18-21, it counts along with your retirement.”
