On Jan. 7th, Officer Loren Wutzke, a former Trojan from the class of 2006, took over as the new resource officer, after Officer Mostafa Asefi’s three-year term came to an end, Wutzke said.
A desire to help people stay on the right track motivated him to take this job, Wutzke said.
“My role is to make everyone feel safe, to interact with students (and) staff, build a good relationship with everyone here, and part of being safe is not just enforcing laws but as well as emotional support, (it) is talking with students (and) helping them deal with difficult times,” Wutzke said.
The resource officers help assist with the drills, such as fire drills, and find the best way to practice them, Assistant Principal Jennifer Hutchison said.
“I would say our best resources are that we work as a team,” Hutchison said. “Milpitas is unique, and so is the role of a school resource officer. A police officer in that position can come in as a police officer; however, most of the time they are actually a resource. So they follow the lead of what the school is working on and just provide support.”
Asefi has been showing Wutzke the logistics, how his communication is with the kids, what his relationship is with different clubs, and getting him introduced to the faculty members and administrators, Asefi said.
“I’ve learned it takes time to build a rapport or a connection,” Asefi said. “Once you build that rapport, I noticed that kids, those were the kids that were nervous and shy to talk to me in the beginning, now, just see me as Asefi, not ‘Officer’ Asefi.”
There has been almost a month-long cross-training between Wutzke and Asefi with Asefi guiding Wutzke on what is going on at our school, Hutchison said.
“Over the past month, Officer Asefi has been working closely with Officer Wutzke, providing hands-on guidance to help him understand the school environment and how things run here, ensuring a smooth transition,” Hutchison said.
It’s bittersweet because he has built strong relationships with the students over time. He has seen them grow from nervous freshmen to confident seniors, and it’s been really rewarding to be part of that journey. He will miss that connection, but is excited for Officer Wutzke to step in and continue making an impact, Asefi said.
Being a Resource Officer “has been one of my favorite assignments so far at the police department,” Asefi said. “I’ve worked patrol, I’ve been on the recruitment team, and I’m currently on the SWAT team too, and of all the things I think SRO is the most impactful in my opinion.”
Wutzke believes he can teach the school about himself and his role and how welcome he is to everyone and that door is always open to anyone who wants to come and talk, Wutzke said.
“I feel very prepared. Officer Asefi has helped me out. I think I have the right personality to be outgoing, to make myself available to everyone, and really just enjoy the time here.” Wutzke said.
Resource Officers rotate every three years, Hutchison said.
“Some parts of the role of a resource officer are to establish a connection between the city and our schools, giving students opportunities to interact with police officers in a way that makes them safe, but also giving them someone to talk to if they need help and support,” Hutchison said. “Officer Asefi and Officer Wutzke meet with students all day as well as going out into the community and seeing people. Sometimes during lunch, they can be found on the basketball courts as well.”
Wutzke was on the football team for all four years of high school, he said. Some of his favorite moments from MHS were playing football and just competing on the field, he said.
“A lot of my friends that I hung out with outside of football or even school, were football players,” Wutzke said. “So the Friday night games were fun, playing in the lights, the band playing, hearing the national anthem go off and like remembering, you know, standing there and getting ready for the game, to start being pumped up and motivated to play.”
Wutzke looks forward to having new experiences every day, interacting with the community like teachers and students, seeing students he has coached before, and building the relationship between the community and the police department, Wutzke said.
“Something that stuck with me is a phrase from Coach King and football is that ‘success is often overshadowed by hard work,’” Wutzke said.“That’s something that I use to this day. I pass it on to my kids, and I think it’s very true. It’s a kind of motto or slogan that we would say on the football team. And it’s very, very accurate that if you want to be successful in life and anything you do, more likely than not, there’s going to be a lot of hard work behind that.”