January 2020 | Vol. 30 Iss. 01
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February is National
Save our Teeth
Dental Month
• Did you know 8 out of 10 dogs over the age of 3 are affected by significant dental issues? • Dental problems are one of the leading causes of heart problems in pets.
Signs Your Pet Should Be Checked: • Bad breath • Red along gumline • Drooling • Difficulty or change • Tartar & Plaque buildup in eating habits • Swollen gums • Missing/loose teeth
SAVING THE WORLD, ONE PERSON AT A TIME: RIVERTON POLICE OFFICER’S SUPER POWER IS COMMUNITY
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By Jet Burnham | j.burnham@mycityjournals.com
W
hen Riverton police officer Michael Ashley leaves for work each day, his wife asks if he’s going to save the world. “No,” he answers. “I’m just going to save one person.” Ashley, a school resource officer at Oquirrh Hills Middle School, taps into a variety of powerful resources to save the students he works with.
POWER OF CONNECTION
Ashley, or Officer Ash as the kids call him, strives to connect with each student, to earn their trust and to encourage them to make good choices. “I want kids to feel like they could come talk to me,” said Ashley, who gets involved in classrooms and school activities as much as he can. “He’s not just the cop that goes and holds up the wall,” said OHMS assistant principal Audrey Fish. “He’s outside with them, visiting with them, laughing with them, getting to know them. He’s going and meeting kids in every class.” Ashley keeps close tabs on students even outside of school. He frequently spends time at the local skate park, earning the trust of the kids who hang out there. “I just don’t want to be the school cop that’s just in the hallways,” Ashley said. “I want to be that officer that’s out on the street, with the kids at the skate park, with the businesses, and teaching families about understanding their kids and all the latest trends.” Ashley is immersed in community events. He loves to help with bike safety rodeos and crime watch meetings. He is eager to take selfies with residents on the street, hand out stickers to kids and support lemonade stands. “He’s constantly out in the community where kids are,” Fish said. “I think that he knows that they know that he’s going to be swinging by in a patrol car, so they’re probably going to be following the rules.”
POWER OF PREVENTION
“He’s all about prevention,” Fish said. “That lens of prevention and being visible—that’s that’s what has brought a lot of the power to his message and to his presence.” She said he reaches out to students who are getting into trouble to prevent bigger problems from developing. “He’s very good at talking through consequences and choices with kids and also trying to empower them to make better choices,” Fish said. “He puts his neck out there for the benefit of the kids, knowing that they know that he’s going to hold them accountable for that high expectation.”
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POWER OF A PUNCH
When students get into fights at school, Ashley introduces the teen to local programs that teach self-discipline such as the boxing program at Gene Fullmer Rec Center in West Jordan and the martial arts classes at First Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Riverton. A boxing program helped Ashley learn respect, honor, pride, confidence and nonviolent resolutions during his own youth. Ashley reached out to First BJJ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when it opened in Riverton this October. Owner Chad Golay said Ashley immediately started referring families to the program. “Anytime he sees someone in the community—a teenager or family—that would be interested or if he recognizes that would benefit them, he will definitely communicate what we offer to them,” Golay said.
POWER OF SUPPORT
Golay appreciates the support from Ashley, who makes it a point to contact every business owner in Riverton. “He has been more than helpful,” Golay said. “He’s gone out of his way to make himself available for us.” Ashley has previously worked as an SRO at Riverton High School, a community-oriented police officer and a drug court detective working with addicts and their families. Though his current assignment is school resource officer, Ashley is still a community officer. “The three things that you need to know in a community are the kids, the parents and the businesses,” Ashley said. “If you know all three of those, you have a successful community.” Riverton Chief of Police Don Hutson said community-oriented policing is the culture of the Riverton Police Department. Every officer, no matter where they serve, is encouraged to attend community events, be involved in neighborhoods and do business outreach. Hutson said Ashley is an exemplary officer. “Mike Ashley was kind of the poster child for the type of officer I want,” Huston said. “He’s such a motivated guy and loves to interact with people. We would be crazy not to bring somebody of his caliber on board to help with the transition to our new police department. He literally made contact with almost every business in Riverton over the summer and introduced himself and introduced our new department.” Hutson said, like most officers, Ashley wants to make a difference.
Officer Ashley loves to support the Riverton community. (Photo courtesy of Mike Ashley)
“He feels like he can really make a difference when he connects with the youth,” Hutson said. “He also takes it to the next level and connects with their families. He’s trying to solve society’s ills one youth at a time.”
POWER OF CREATIVITY
Ashley appreciates that Hutson supports him and gives him the freedom to use his imagination to educate youth. Ashley employs creative activities to teach students to be drugfree in the D.A.R.E. program at local elementary schools. Alex Anderson, a teacher at Rosamond Elementary, said Ashley had students practice scenarios of how they could say no to drugs and alcohol. “Officer Ashley is very kind and developed lasting relationships with the students,” she said. At OHMS, Ashley meets with each second period class Continued page 11
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