By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp.- The board of trustees approved the 2019-2020 intergovernmental agreement to provide a police liaison officer for Brandon Schools with a 6-0 vote. Treasurer Terri Darnall was absent with notice.
The current officer in that position is Detective Mike Taylor, who has been with the substation for the past few years, and an officer for more than three decades.

“It’s pretty much the same contract we’ve had in the past,” said supervisor Kathy Thurman. “The cost increases that are part of the contract with Oakland County Sheriff’s Office is put into this contract.”
The contract is an agreement to split the cost of a police liaison officer with the Brandon School District, with BSD paying 50 percent of the cost for a patrol investigator during the school year. The contract is for Sept. 3, 2019 to June 12, 2020. The cost for the township is about $55,000 per year.
“I still think that’s one of the most important positions in our substation,” said Lt. Greg Glover, OCSO Brandon substation commander. “The contact with those kids is huge for us, their trust, things that we get out of that, things that they get out of it. It’s a real big plus to have that position, I’d hate to ever see that position go away. It really deters a lot of things that we would have to deal with. And also, because of having that school liaison as a second detective in the summer, really helps with our detective bureau case load.”
The township started splitting the cost of a resource officer for the 2017-2018 school year when district superintendent Dr. Matt Outlaw and then-school board president Kevin McClellen formally asked the township for help with the cost. The agreement has stayed the same with 50/50 with the township paying overtime as well.
Earlier this year a similar police liaison officer agreement in Goodrich schools, with Atlas Township paying 30 percent of costs and the school district paying 70 percent was approved. On March 11, interviews for a school resource officer were conducted and GCSO Atlas Township Deputy Casey Seeley was selected. He begin April 8 at a cost of $123, 341 of which the school will be responsible for 70 percent or $88,101 for a 21 month period of time. Of that time 15 months will be in the school district. The school district will now have an SRO for the remainder of the 2019 and the 2019-2020 school year.