There is a move afoot to have Groton police officers drop by the schools in their patrol areas to visit on an informal basis; a way of getting the kids and teachers to know the officers and vice-versa.

This is certainly a good idea, but not a new one. For many years local police officers dropped in at the former Fitch Jr. High School so often that they had their own coffee cups in the faculty room.

As some will remember, in the 1980s the ninth grade social studies curriculum in Groton was law, both civil and criminal, and civics. Groton’s youth officers were frequently in the classroom teaching about some aspect of criminal law.

Just as important as their instruction was that the kids got to know them and trust them. There was rarely a time when some youngster didn’t linger after class to ask a question, or share something with the officer.

It wasn’t just the kids who got to know the police officers. So did the teachers. Friendships based on mutual respect and good humor developed. One morning I had a meeting in New London and a sub covered my class. When I got back to school I asked the officers if they knew what was going on in Groton. “It must be something big,” I said.

They seemed bewildered and asked what I was talking about. I explained that I had just driven down Long Hill Road and when I passed the Bess Eaton doughnut shop, there weren’t any police cars in the parking lot.

“Something must be happening,” I said. Their reaction was about what one would expect. They didn’t get mad; they got even.

I was driving home one evening after dark in my yellow Chevette. I had just come off I-95 at Exit 89 and turned right towards Cow Hill Road when a car came up behind me with its headlights flashing alternately right and left. I pulled over, and the other car pulled alongside. When they waved and grinned, I knew who they were!

In conjunction with law curriculum, Bob Allin, who is now retired, and I began a speaker program with the blessing of the administration and our colleagues. Bob and I managed to find people involved with the law who would be willing to come in and talk about their field with the kids. These folks didn’t come from any speakers’ bureau, but through personal connections and sometimes chance encounters.

There were speakers almost every Friday during the school year, talking on a variety of topics. One of the most interesting was an investigator for the Postal Inspection Service. Most of the kids had never heard of that agency. Another was an arson investigator.

A SWAT team member inadvertently created quite a laugh from the students. He was displaying all his gear and asked if anyone wanted to try it on. A girl in front, who was known for always being dressed in the height of fashion, volunteered and was outfitted with a bulletproof vest, a utility belt, helmet and all the other accouterments necessary for the job.

One of the kids asked how much all that cost, to which the officer replied, “About five thousand.” One boy looked at the girl and said, “Susan, that’s the most expensive outfit you’ve worn this year!”

Robert Welt of Mystic is a retired Groton Public Schools teacher.