b"What was different?When I first started, the principal was mostly in charge. When we went over to the NYPD, we were following guidelines from the police department. We had to go through some training. How long was your training? It was once a month at one particular school. Then when school closed, we had some training at the Borough office.It was ongoing and I went until I retired. They were giving us the updates on different procedures, the rights of students,and all of that. We got handcuffs, the logbooks, flashlights and our uniform changed. We also had new timesheets. Youhad to decide if you wanted to stay with the Board of Ed or switch over to the NYPD. Their pension was better so I switchedto the New York City Pension Fund.Was the change hard?No, it didn't make things that hard, it was just a change that you had to get used to. You learn what they teach you intraining to become a school safety officer; they give you the basics.Once you get into the school itself, then you have tofigure things out for yourself. You have to learn how to deal with the teachers and students. You have to have that rapportwith the students. If the kid has a problem in the morning, you try to calm them down. You say: Okay, it's going to be alright. And they feel more comfortable. I had a very good rapport with the students. Some mornings, parents come in to see a teacher or the principal. When they come through that door, you can get a sense of how they are feeling, so youknow how to handle them. You are polite, you say: How are you? You try to calm them down because some of themcome in irate. You say: Okay, it's going to be alright. You try to make them feel at ease.I try to get them to calm down before they go into the office. They dont teach you that. You have to learn that on the jobTell me about patrolling in the school. What would you be likely to come upon and what would you do?When it comes to patrolling, we check the hallways, make sure all the kids are in their classes and then we check thedoors and make sure they are locked. The only door that is open is the main door where you come in. If we find a studentin the hall, we note in our logbook that he is cutting class. We may take him to the deans office. There might be foodfights in the lunchroom. They can escalate. When things start happening like that, you have your radio. You're going tocall for help; you don't go into a situation alone. They tell us that. Do not try to break up a fight or anything by yourself.You call for help. This way we have more people to come in. Sometimes, the administration steps in. They have radios and they come in to help assist.What would you do to calm down the situation once you had more staff there?We would separate the kids involved. Then we try to get them to settle down by talking to them and moving themaway. Sometimes you have to physically move them away from each other, but you have to be careful. Most of the timeyou just raise your hands, palms up, and say: Stop, stop. 170 "