Gerald Markle in 2019.

School districts in Butler County will have another resource to combat on-campus crimes, as a school detective begins his patrol this month, according to District Attorney Rich Goldinger.

The new detective will start just before schools open for the fall semester with former state trooper and school police officer Gerald “Jerry” Markle taking the post.

“I realized there may be a need for another resource to make school a safer place for everybody,” Markle said of the detective role. “I see it as another opportunity to help the community.”

According to Goldinger, the position was created by county officials to address the increase in fights and drug incidents in the Butler Area School District.

Though Markle’s office will be based out of the Butler Area School District administration building, he will be available as a resource for all county school districts.

“The intent is that by adding a school detective, we’re giving an asset to schools to use to make them safer,” he said. “(We’re) also making the community safer by taking care of problems in the school so they don’t spill over into the community.”

Brian White, superintendent for Butler Area, said increased violence during the 2022-23 school year caused the district administration to request the school detective position from county commissioners.

In November 2022, 34 of the senior high school’s 2,003 students had six or more referrals for rule violations, according to the district. The district then implemented measures to discourage students from committing violations. White said in January that only three fights were recorded in December 2022, opposed to the 20 prior incidents.

Measures taken to improve behavior were to have physically aggressive students go to a board hearing and face possible suspension, an afternoon and evening school program, and the appointment of a dean of students to handle disciplinary issues.

The school detective would be an additional safeguard to keep illegal activity from affecting the wider community.

“Things cut across multiple school districts or police departments, so we need someone to keep track of that,” White said.

Markle was a state trooper for 27 years and has been a school police officer within the county for 16 years, Goldinger said, working in the Butler, Mars, and Moniteau districts.

In addition, he has been an assistant coach with the Butler girl’s basketball team for 25 years, and plans to continue.

“He’s already familiar with Butler and has been involved in security discussions throughout the summer,” Goldinger said.

White said Markle’s conscientiousness as a school police officer will contribute to his new role.

“He’s very committed to everyone he serves, he’s very assertive. I don’t think he’ll be afraid to say when something is unsafe for students or staff,” White said.

Goldinger said Markle will have arresting power and be able to file charges against students engaging in criminal activity. He also will assist at juvenile court proceedings resulting from those charges.

Markle will work closely with school security. While many school officers are retired state police officers, they have no arresting power.

“He’ll familiarize himself with the student body, with who he may need to keep an eye on,” Goldinger said. “It’s almost another hammer hanging over (students’) heads.”

“With 2,500 kids in a building, things are going to happen,” Markle said. “I’m going to try to get caught up on things that occurred in the past, talk with law enforcement who have jurisdiction over those schools, and be a conduit for people in the school to communicate with law enforcement.”

The implementation of the detective’s position will not change how students are disciplined for infractions within the school, according to Goldinger and White.

Goldinger added that Markle and school officials will communicate to the District Attorney’s Office what common infractions they see among students and what can be done to improve school safety.

“I’m pretty familiar with the school system and law enforcement, and they overlapped for a lot of my career,” Markle said. “I hope to make the school a safer environment for everybody.”