Medford School Resource Officers Ready For New School Year

Medford officers are gearing up to keep students safe this coming school year.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Aug 20, 2026 3:21 PM EDT

Rob Passacantilli is the SRO at Medford High School. (Dakota Antelman/Patch)

MEDFORD, MA — Two Medford police officers are preparing to return to city schools with the start of the new school year just weeks away, the police department announced.

Officers Rob Passacantilli and Julia Pothier will return as the department's school resource officers after spending part of the summer working with local youth.

Passacantilli will return to Medford High School, where he works closely with students, staff and families throughout the school year. Passacantilli has been with Medford police for 12 years and previously served as a field training officer before becoming a school resource officer.

Pothier will once again be assigned to the city's middle and elementary schools. Now entering her seventh year with the department, Pothier has previously served as a school resource officer at Medford High School.

Medford Public Schools announced in January of 2023 that Pothier had joined the high school as its second school resource officer. She was one of four Medford officers who had received training to serve in the role at the school.

Pothier attended the Northern Essex Community College/Methuen Police Academy before joining Medford police.

Both officers serve under the department's Detective Bureau. According to the department's 2025 annual report, Passacantilli and Pothier worked with school administrators, teachers, students and parents throughout the year.

The officers' work includes mentoring students and building relationships between police and the school community. School resource officers also assist with school security, law enforcement education and counseling, according to the department.

Passacantilli and Pothier remained involved with Medford youth during the summer break. Both officers spent two weeks with cadets at the city's Junior Police Academy and participated in a week at the Middlesex Sheriff's Office Youth Public Safety Academy.

"We're excited to have Officer Passacantilli and Officer Pothier back in our schools and look forward to another year of keeping our students safe," the department said in a statement.