Gloucester Township Police SRO Is Air Force Veteran

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — In the aftermath of a shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, there has been a lot of discussion about armed police officers in schools, and even arming teachers, in schools.

For the second time in three days, the Gloucester Township Police Department took the time to highlight one its School Resource Officers (SRO). This time, the department introduced Jose Melendez to the public.

"Cpl. Melendez graduated from Collingswood High School in 1989 and immediately began his first career in the United States Air Force," the police department said in an online message. "During his time in the Air Force, he worked as a Military Policeman and traveled to several states and other countries including Canada, England, Germany, France and Egypt. During his time of service, Cpl. Melendez was deployed to Cairo, Egypt in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1991. Cpl. Melendez was on active duty until 1995, and then joined the reserves stationed in Dover, DE. until 1999. Cpl. Melendez began his law enforcement career with the NJ State Department of Corrections in 1997, then joined the Gloucester Township Police Department in January of 1999. Cpl. Melendez worked with an outstanding group of police officers on the 4th platoon, before becoming a School Resource Officer at Timbercreek High School in 2007, and presently is the school resource officer at Highland High School. When school is out during the summer months he works with children in the Junior Police Academy and does community outreach with the Gloucester Township game truck."

Read about Gloucester Township SRO John McHugh here.

Attached images of Cpl. Jose Melendez were provided by the Gloucester Township Police Department