PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Pittsfield Public Schools now have three school resource officers - Officer Jessica Godfroy at Pittsfield High School, Officer Izinna Degraffenried at Taconic High School, and Officer Ansy Jumeau who works between the Reid and Herberg middle schools.

While communities such as Worcester have moved away from police officers in schools and some in Pittsfield have debated if their presence can have a negative impact on students, Spectrum News 1 met with Officers Godfroy and Degraffenried to discuss the impact someone in their role can make.

“They're still trying to learn me because I haven't been here that long," Degraffenried said. "And I also think some of them just wonder how long I'm going to stay.”

Degraffenried said she values the relationships she’s already made with students and faculty and looks forward to attending many graduations as the SRO for years to come.

“In a position like this, like I see with Officer Godfroy, as she's going on, I think she said eight or nine years and she's really built those connections," Degraffenried said. "And I believe for a strong SRO, you have to give this position some time in order to build those connections.”

“I just think it's such an important job that people don't really understand what we do here," Godfroy said. "They think we're here, you know, to get kids in trouble or to charge them with crimes. And to me, that's the smallest part of my job.”

Godfroy works fulltime at Pittsfield High School. She said the reality is schools will always have to call the police for one reason or another and connections made by school resource officers create more opportunities for positive outcomes.

“I think being in the school every day, versus somebody who just responds to the school, changes the whole dynamic and comfort level of everyone,” Godfroy said.

There’s a process in place for hiring school resource officers and Godfroy said the role isn’t necessarily for every police officer.

“It doesn't work if you have an officer that comes in and they're not here for the right reasons or they don't enjoy working with kids," Godfroy said. "Because that's the job.”

“Growing up, I didn't see any police officers that look like me,” Degraffenried said.

Degraffenried is originally from Pittsfield and became the city's first Black female police officer in 2018. Now she looks forward to inspiring students who come from similar backgrounds to hers and said resource officers in any school should be prepared to be role models.

“(The students) don't have to be a cop," Degraffenried said. "They can be a doctor, they can be a nurse, they can be a firefighter, whatever they want to do. For them to be able to look back at themself and be like, you know what, ‘I came from here, but I want this’ and understand that it's okay to come from here because that's where I came from and want something more for yourself. But to reach out and get it and to grab that and if I can give that to anyone, I don't care what color they are, that's what I'm here to do.”