Gloucester Police Officer Peter Sutera Named National School Resource Officer of the Year

Chief Edward Conley is proud to announce that the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) has named Gloucester Police School Resource Officer Peter Sutera as the national school resource officer of the year.

Officer Sutera joined Gloucester Police as a reserve officer in 2005 and became a full-time officer in 2009. A member of the department’s Community Impact Unit, Officer Sutera has worked as a school resource officer at the elementary and middle school levels for seven years now. 

For the past two years, he has also served as the handler of Ace, the department’s 2-year-old comfort dog, who accompanies Officer Sutera to numerous school events.

Sutera said the programs he is most proud of are the SRO_Gaming program, in which police officers meet with students online to play video games and bond with students, and the Youth Anglers program, in which police officers take students fishing. Officer Sutera shared credit for those programs with his colleagues from the Community Impact Unit, including Officer Joe Parady and Officer Mike Scola, the school resource officer at Gloucester High School. 

Both programs have enabled Sutera and other officers to form relationships and bond with students in a way that goes beyond the interactions most people have with patrol officers, and both programs have helped police form relationships with youth. 

“My main goal is to have kids not look at me as a police officer they’d see on the street. I work more toward connections and the relationship building,” said Officer Sutera. “If there is ever an issue outside of school, I hope students will come to me for help instead of avoiding the police. I work hard to try and bridge the gap to make kids feel comfortable enough to approach me not only as a police officer but as a friend.”

“This acknowledgement of SRO Peter Sutera speaks to the great work Pete and Ace do day in and day out at the elementary and middle school grade levels in the Gloucester school system,” said Lt. Jeremiah Nicastro, commander of the Community Impact Unit. “Officer Sutera’s outreach efforts to our Gloucester youth through the Community Impact Unit’s SRO_gaming and Youth Anglers Program are innovative community policing initiatives that have strengthened the Community Impact Unit’s efforts in building connections with our community, especially our youth.”

“Our Community Impact Unit team members are a talented group of individuals, who support each other to enhance service and delivery to our community,” added Lt. Nicastro. “I am proud to see School Resource Officer Sutera being recognized on a national level for his service to the Gloucester Police Department and Gloucester’s youth.”

“Officer Sutera’s hard work and dedication to his job have been recognized on a national level, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we are very proud of him,” said Chief Conley. “He has demonstrated a deep commitment to the safety and well-being of the students and it’s clear that his efforts have not gone unnoticed.”