WALKER, Mich. — If you see a police car in your rear view mirror with it's lights on, that might be cause for concern. But Walker Police say if you see officers at a school, it's often times nothing to worry about.
“We were there for a very boring meeting,” Mitch Harkema Community Outreach and Engagement Officer for Walker PD said.
The game of telephone lead some people to think otherwise, when two law enforcement vehicles were seen outside of a Walker elementary school.
“We’ve seen in some of the scanner pages and in some of the community groups on Facebook some misinformation about some of the things that are going on in the City of Walker, and even West Michigan as a whole,” Harkema said.
Walker PD cleared the air with this Facebook post.
“For example yesterday. The Kenowa Hills School District, they have an assigned school resource officer through the sheriff’s officer. Her and I happened to be at an elementary school for a meeting," Harkema said.
Officer Harkema with Walker PD says they understand why parents worry.
“I can understand you know, when they’re might be police activity by my kids school, I’d be concerned about that,” Harkema.
Harkema says not everything posted to social media pages is what meets the eye. Especially pages that monitor police scanners.
“It’s important to remember they can only report what’s being reported to dispatch. And that’s only one part of the story,” Harkema said.
If there is reason to worry, Harkema says you'll know.
“If there’s a true critical incident or emergency, schools will push out information," Harkema said.
He says it's a safe bet, it's usually something innocent.
“A lot of times we may be doing a safety lesson in the school, maybe saying hi to the principal, the admin the secretary. Passing through at passing time to give high fives. Writing a report in the parking lot. Helping with traffic flow at pickup,” Harkema said.
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