|
Officer practices 'art' of police work
By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — In the year School Resource Officer Montafix Houghton IV has been on the beat at South Kingstown High School, he has worked to build rapport with the students.
“I try to dispel the image you see on CSI,” Houghton said on Thursday.
The gentle giant of an officer has become such a part of the fabric of the school, the student newspaper started a parody column in his honor: “Dr. Monty: Crimes of the Heart,” which portrays Houghton as the Dr. Phil of the high school, solving problems with a tissue box in hand.
Last year, when he moved into his office near the auditorium, Houghton admired the artwork of Megan Yiu, then a junior, and asked her to paint a portrait of a lion on his office walls.
“She is going to Parsons [a renowned art and design school in New York] in the fall,” Houghton said. “Last year, she planned to be an accountant.”
It was one example of how a little encouragement can help change a life.
This year, Houghton was struck by the work of Kenny Hopkins, 18, a senior, who works in spray paint.
“Spray paint is usually associated with graffiti,” Houghton said. “Kenny is doing this great work with stencils and spray paint.”
He asked Hopkins to create a new piece to hang behind his desk. The image is of a man in the desert, walking away from a Sphinx.
“It is Moses leaving Egypt. He is walking out of his comfort zone and into the unknown,” said Houghton, who uses the story to help kids understand that their greatest achievements will come when they do things they do not think they can do.
“You may know A, B and Z, but you don’t know C through Y,” Houghton said. “You have to take the leap of faith.”
Houghton gave Hopkins money to buy paint. A few weeks later, he checked in to see how the piece was coming along.
“I told him the spray paint had disappeared,” Hopkins said.
The paint had been in a Benny’s bag in the art room at the high school – but in early April, the red, purple and blue went missing.
“I was disheartened,” Houghton said.
The next day, Sgt. Patricia Gardner told him about graffiti that had cropped up on town property in Peace Dale.
“Graffiti is usually someone acting out aggression or some other emotion,” Houghton said.
Gardner thought it might be the work of students.
Houghton asked what colors were used.
Red, purple and blue, she said.
He had no suspects, but felt certain his missing paint was used in the crime. Houghton began to study the images that appeared on the Neighborhood Guild, the Village Green tennis courts, a town van and businesses in Peace Dale.
“The image was Asian, and they had also painted the word ‘Kira,’ not a known student at school,” Houghton said.
He visited the adviser of the school’s Japanese Club, who told him the image was the sign of the Samuri.
“But he said the person who painted it did not know Japanese,” Houghton said. “The work was not flowing. It was only copying.”
The advisor told him a student had recently joined the club but dropped out when he realized they did not focus on anime, or Japanese-style animation. Houghton moved to the Anime Club, where he learned the same student had recently joined that group.
Houghton brought the student, and his parents, in for a chat. The 17-year-old denied any involvement in the theft, or the tagging.
A few days later, Houghton had a chat with the club’s members. If a person from the club were involved in a crime, he told them, it would reflect poorly on them. He asked for their help. One student volunteered that a kid who was new to the club adopted the nickname Kira. But a few days ago, he told them to stop calling him by that name.
It was the same student who had been in Houghton’s office with his parents. He brought them in again, and this time, the student confessed to stealing the paint and doing the tagging.
The next day, Houghton overheard one student teasing another in the cafeteria.
“Are you going out tagging tonight?” the boy asked.
“It did not fit,” Houghton said. “The boy he was teasing was not someone who would do that.”
The remark stuck in Houghton’s head. He called the parents of the 17-year-old who made the remark and asked them to bring him in for a talk.
During that meeting, the boy confessed to helping with the tagging.
While there is not a happy ending to the tagging case – the boys were both charged with the crimes and their cases are in Family Court – Houghton sees the positives.
“I could not have solved this without the help of the clubs,” he said. Building rapport worked – he has won the trust of the students, who are willing to work with him and come forward with information.
There is also the happy ending for Hopkins, who graduates on Monday. His work will be showcased in Houghton’s office, and he will spend the summer at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Pottersville, N.Y., working as a videographer. In the fall, he will start classes there and continue to paint and work with graphic arts.
Liz Boardman can be reached at boardman@scindependent.com.
Print this story
Email this story
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of scindependent.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
|
 |
|
