Lockport Township High School grads stay part of community as resource officers

Lockport — Going back to your old high school as an adult can be a strange experience full of nostalgia. Although most may go years without setting foot inside their alma mater, for two Lockport police officers, it happens every day.

Officers Kevin Brauch and Cameron Kamarauskas are the school resource officers in Lockport Township High School District 205 and alumni of the school, having grown up in the Lockport area before joining the police force.

“I always had the thought to be a school resource officer,” said Kamarauskas, who graduated from LTHS in 2006. “I enjoyed doing patrols, but when the opportunity came up, it felt like a no-brainer. It’s a pretty unique thing getting to be back at my old school. A lot of the teachers I had are still there, and it’s nice getting to interact with them in a different way.”

For Brauch, LTHS is not the first school he has worked in, as he was working in the Lockport community in several elementary and junior high schools for seven years, assisting with programs such as D.A.R.E.

“I always wanted to work with schools,” he said. “I started working with the younger kids and realized I liked it. I liked working with them and helping keep them on the right track.”

Brauch, who graduated high school in 1998, started at LTHS as a substitute, then took the job full-time.

“I jumped at the opportunity,” he said. “It’s interesting to go back and walk the halls in a different way. Not only did I go there, but my dad was a teacher here, so it’s nice for me. It feels like it’s continuing that connection.”

Both officers started working for the district in 2022, and they divide their responsibilities between the district’s two campuses, with Brauch working at East and Kamarauskas stationed at Central Campus. Being assigned to Central led to an extra challenge this school year after a classroom ceiling collapsed on the building’s third floor in November and caused students to be relocated to the shuttered Lincoln-Way North campus in Frankfort Square.

“It definitely took some adjustment for everyone,” Kamarauskas said of the move, which has been dubbed by staff as “the Porter Pivot.” “Day to day is different with the transportation issue, getting everyone to and from East, but the school has done a great job keeping the environment as good as they can for the kids.”

“I get to see everything through the kids’ eyes. It’s interesting to realize how they see you, and to be able to help them see you’re there to help them.”

—  Officer Kevin Brauch, Lockport Township High School resource officer

Because Lincoln-Way North is so far from Lockport, there was an initial issue with jurisdiction for the resource officers, who needed to be officially deputized by the Will County Sheriff’s Office to carry out their duties at the new, temporary campus, a process that was handled through negotiation between the school district, the Lockport Police Department and the sheriff’s office.

“Luckily, it wasn’t too involved for us,” Kamarauskas said with a laugh. “Mostly, the school and the departments handled it. We just had to go to a meeting at the county clerk’s office to make it official.”

Although the job can have its complications working in a school environment, both officers said they enjoy the experience.

“I really like it,” Brauch said. “I get to see everything through the kids’ eyes. It’s interesting to realize how they see you, and to be able to help them see you’re there to help them.

“It’s awesome to interact with them. Teenage minds can be very entertaining and very uplifting. When they shout out to you down the hall and you make that connection, it’s rewarding.”

“I worked 12 years on afternoon or midnight shifts, so it was a complete 180 going back to an early school schedule, but it’s been great so far,” Kamarauskas said. “It’s really about showing students that you’re a resource, not just an enforcer.

“It’s nice to develop an informal relationship with students and staff. It really humanizes the position of police and allows the kids to develop their own opinions of our role in the community.”

Not only do the officers see students and teachers on a daily basis in the hallways, but they also work to further their relationship with the school community by attending large events on campus.

“We’re expected to be at some of the bigger events and games, but some of them the kids invite us to,” Brauch said. “Some we go to just for the kids, or the coaches will ask us. It’s a nice way to be part of their lives.”

Even for events they are not specifically required to attend if the district requests a police presence for an event such as a dance or game, Kamarauskas said they will make sure they are part of it.

“We make a point to be around as much as possible,” he said.