Pendell begins second year as ML School District SRO

Medical Lake residents may notice a Spokane County Sheriff's vehicle outside of school buildings on weekdays.

The vehicle belongs to Deputy Travis Pendell, who is starting his second year as the district's school resource officer.

The district brought a resource officer on board last year. Prior to becoming the district's SRO, Pendell taught the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in the county. Although Pendell lives in the Reardan-Edwall School District area, he has ties to Medical Lake such as his children wrestling for the Mat Mauler's wrestling club.

"I feel connected to this community," Pendell said.

During the day, Pendell visits Hallett Elementary School, the middle school and high school, spending time with students in the hallway or at lunch.

"I think an officer's presence is a deterrent to bad behavior and helps build a rapport with students," Pendell said. "You call them by their name and their faces just light up."

Superintendent Tim Ames said having Pendell as a resource officer has been a "real benefit to the students and the district as a whole. He explained that Pendell has been more of an educator to students, teaching them the importance of obeying the speed limit and safety rather than just writing tickets for infractions.

"We've also felt more secure in our buildings," Ames said. "We recently conducted a walkthrough of the buildings with the Washington State Patrol and Deputy Pendell helped us identify security elements that need to be done," Ames said.

At the end of the school day, Pendell will drive to Lefevre Street to monitor traffic and drivers. During his first year, Pendell and the city were able to get the Washington State Department of Transportation to change the speed signs in the school zone.

"They used to read 20 miles per hour when kids are present," Pendell said. "That was hard to enforce because some people aren't sure what counts as 'when kids are present.' Now it reads 20 miles per hour with specific times when kids are likely to be going to and coming out of school."

Another speed sign, on Fellows Street, near the high school, was also reduced from 25 to20 mph.

Pendell attends various school events, including football games and board meetings. He is also the adviser for the middle school's Tuesday and Thursday chess club.

"The department encourages us to engage in extracurricular activities and the middle school needed an additional instructor because the Monday and Wednesday chess club had too many students and the adviser Paul Ryan couldn't do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I offered to do it," Pendell said, adding he will be advising the chess club this year.

Pendell's presence in Medical Lake also helps the city. Medical Lake contracts with the Sheriff's Office for policing services. If the Medical Lake deputy on duty needs to assist another agency outside of the area, Pendell can stay in the city.

For this year, Ames said he would like to expand Pendell's role into an educator and have him teach bicycle safety, civics and health classes, as well as be an informal counselor.

Pendell said there will be a traffic safety display near the high school on Oct. 3. The display will include a wrecked vehicle with a public service banner detailing the dangers of texting and driving.

He would also like to coordinate with the B&B Driving School, which teaches driver's education at the high school, and conduct a lecture and mock traffic stops with students to teach them "what they should do when an officer stops them."

"At Hallett, I'd like to do more reading with the kids," Pendell said. "If they see you every day, as they get older, they won't have a fear of law enforcement."

The district's contract with the resource officer program is on a year-to-year basis, though Pendell said he would be the SRO for Medical Lake "as long as they keep inviting me to come back."

"I really love the atmosphere here," Pendell said. "I talk to my fellow resource officers and I'm convinced I have the best district."

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].