Four police officers for Seattle middle schools

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels introduced Wednesday four police officers who will work in five Seattle's public middle schools. The city is adding the officers as part of the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.

A police officer works on-campus at only one Seattle high school — Garfield — but Nickels said it's important to have officers at middle schools, where students are at a crossroads in their emotional, physical and social maturity. The city has applied for a federal grant to put officers in all its high schools.

The officers wear "soft uniforms" that look more like street clothes and their mission is to counsel and mentor rather than just law enforcement. They will be at Aki Kurose, Denny and Meany middle schools, and one officer will split his time between Washington Middle and Madrona K-8 schools.

In terms of outreach to students, Nickels said, "We're not going to wait for them to come to us. We're going to reach out to them."

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com