High School Resource Officer Busted Selling Soda To Students

Some school police officers just got busted for doing something illegal in the high-school: they were selling soda to students.

By DAVID on August 28, 2018
(Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

I don’t know why (ok I do know why), but this story is just hilarious to me. I mean not for the officers involved who were disciplined. Reading the story though, I think they weren’t really “disciplined” though, more like a “really guys?” sort of situation.

To jump into the details as quickly as possible, this happened at a school in Connecticut. Connecticut, along with many other school districts around the country, have banned soda machines on school property. This was done to promote healthier diets for the students. Basically to have them drink more water and juice/milk from the cafeteria. Sounds great, right? Healthier change, less sugared-up kids in class, no messy spills, etc.

Well, the police who were assigned to the school grounds (the resource officers), saw a hole in the market. Apparently what had been happening was the officers were stocking their office with soda, and selling them to the kids. I mean, sure, that’s a little shady of a side business, but how funny is that, really? Whatever the case, fast forward 10+ years when one of the officers retired and became a whistleblower.

Neil Cavallaro, the school system Superintendent, said in a statement: “When the administration found out the officers were selling soda, their supervisors were immediately contacted, and put an end to it. We work very closely with the West Haven Police Department. I have been assured the matter was handled, and am confident nothing similar will happen in the future.”

Police lawyer (basically) Lee Tiernan said there was “no record of formal discipline” in this investigation. Basically, the officers got one of those “talking tos” that our parents used to give us. Let’s imagine it went something like “you boneheads. Now get back to work.” Much ado about soda.

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