Windsor Police Officer Honored by U.S. Attorney's Office

WINDSOR, CT — To commemorate National Community Policing Week, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut hosted a Community Policing Awards Ceremony Friday in New Haven that recognized 22 law enforcement officers and community members from cities and towns across the state.

Officer Joshua Amaro, the school resource officer at Windsor High School, was among the honorees. His nomination read:

"Since taking his role as School Resource Officer (SRO) at Windsor High School, Officer Joshua “Josh” Amaro has quickly become the “ultimate” community policing officer to students, faculty and staff, family members, and all community members in Windsor. Even prior to his appointment as SRO, Officer Amaro began developing ways to communicate in a timely and transparent manner to all members of the community, young and old, via social media. He developed and implemented a “WindsorHighSRO” public Facebook page and @WindsorSRO Twitter feed. Most recently, during August 2016, SRO Amaro received the happy endorsement of Windsor Public School District administrators to create and maintain a webpage on the Windsor Public School website. On these social media applications, SRO Amaro has discussed laws relevant to teenagers and their families such as Teen Driving statutes, Texting and driving laws, Halloween safety tips, bicycle safety, and seatbelt laws among other topics.

A recent video which SRO Amaro created and distributed prior to the start of the school year, depicts various members of the Windsor Police welcoming students back to school. Another video reminds parents of traffic patterns at Windsor High School.

SRO Amaro not only promotes and attends as many community events as he possibly can, he also creates them such as a Video Game Tournament night for students.

SRO Amaro seeks out every opportunity to engage his school based community and the larger community of Windsor. SRO Amaro is not just the well-recognized face of the Windsor Police Department. More significantly, SRO Amaro has fostered relationships and built bridges with youth and community residents through his use of social media and his community involvement. His postings have allowed citizens, especially youth in the multi-cultural community of Windsor, to see police officers as “people” too."

“At heart, Community Policing is a philosophy that each of us, members of law enforcement and communities alike, have a stake in keeping our cities and towns safe and secure places to live,” said U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly. “During National Community Policing Week, we celebrate our commitment to supporting the practice of community policing. Police can never solve public safety problems alone. We encourage active community collaboration to improve safety, build public trust and deepen understanding between police and the communities they serve. The officers and community members recognized today are excellent examples of the best in community policing and community relations. I am confident that their efforts are making meaningful and lasting progress, and it is my great privilege to honor each of them and to thank them for their invaluable work.”

Photo credit: Windsor Police Department