New Resource Officer at Belvidere North Highschool
October 4, 2022
Belvidere North Highschool has a new resource officer this year, Officer Kyle Koekler,
following Officer Tallacksen, who reassigned from the post. Never knowing anything about Officer
Tallacksen, I felt it’d be nice to get to know Officer Kyle a little better.
Luckily, I was able to have the opportunity to actually sit down with Officer Kyle and get to
know him better.
How old are you?
“I am thirty one.”
Are you a local?
“ I am from and live in the Winnebago area. I actually went to Harlem high school.”
What are some hobbies you have?
“I like to golf, I have four kids at home so I like to spend time with them, and I like to cook on the
weekends.”
What is something you want students to know about you?
“I’m not just here to help, not just enforce laws like if you need someone to talk with or you need
help with something at home or school. I also get nervous around cops too just like you guys so I
just don’t want it to be a scary thing coming into my office.”
What does a resource officer do?
“I enforce laws, I do paperwork, just be a good presence in the building, to help people do good
things. You know my goal is just to keep the school as safe as possible.”
Do you have any long-term career goals?
“This. This is what I want to do until I retire.”
What issues can students go to you for?
“Well you guys can come to me with personal problems, if you want advice. I can give you
advice on laws and on life or if I can’t fix it I can give you the tools or send you somewhere to
help your problem.”
Where can we find you usually?
“Office B, that’s where my office is and you can probably find me in the lunchroom. You could
even ask the hall monitors to talk to me so no one will have to know your meeting with me or if
you can’t find me.”
Then, I went around North to ask students for their thoughts on our previous and current resource
officers.
Did you know anything about Officer Tallacksen?
“I did not, I saw him at Central a few times and I heard about him from my older sister. I said hi
occasionally. I never really talked to him.”-A sophomore
following Officer Tallacksen, who reassigned from the post. Never knowing anything about Officer
Tallacksen, I felt it’d be nice to get to know Officer Kyle a little better.
Luckily, I was able to have the opportunity to actually sit down with Officer Kyle and get to
know him better.
How old are you?
“I am thirty one.”
Are you a local?
“ I am from and live in the Winnebago area. I actually went to Harlem high school.”
What are some hobbies you have?
“I like to golf, I have four kids at home so I like to spend time with them, and I like to cook on the
weekends.”
What is something you want students to know about you?
“I’m not just here to help, not just enforce laws like if you need someone to talk with or you need
help with something at home or school. I also get nervous around cops too just like you guys so I
just don’t want it to be a scary thing coming into my office.”
What does a resource officer do?
“I enforce laws, I do paperwork, just be a good presence in the building, to help people do good
things. You know my goal is just to keep the school as safe as possible.”
Do you have any long-term career goals?
“This. This is what I want to do until I retire.”
What issues can students go to you for?
“Well you guys can come to me with personal problems, if you want advice. I can give you
advice on laws and on life or if I can’t fix it I can give you the tools or send you somewhere to
help your problem.”
Where can we find you usually?
“Office B, that’s where my office is and you can probably find me in the lunchroom. You could
even ask the hall monitors to talk to me so no one will have to know your meeting with me or if
you can’t find me.”
Then, I went around North to ask students for their thoughts on our previous and current resource
officers.
Did you know anything about Officer Tallacksen?
“I did not, I saw him at Central a few times and I heard about him from my older sister. I said hi
occasionally. I never really talked to him.”-A sophomore
“No, I just saw him during lunch a lot. I didn’t know him at all.”-A senior
Do you know anything about the resource officer?
“No, I don’t even know his name.”-A freshmen
Officer Kyle really made it clear that his intentions here are not to be too bossy but to be an
adult you can share your problems with and not be judged. It was a good experience to be able to
sit down with our new resource officer. Hopefully others will be able to get to know him better
also.
Do you know anything about the resource officer?
“No, I don’t even know his name.”-A freshmen
Officer Kyle really made it clear that his intentions here are not to be too bossy but to be an
adult you can share your problems with and not be judged. It was a good experience to be able to
sit down with our new resource officer. Hopefully others will be able to get to know him better
also.
