Out with the old and in with the new, goes the old expression. 

Starting with the 2017-18 school year, a new School Resource Officer (SRO) will join the faculty.

Corporal William “Will” Furnari will be taking Corporal Paul Talley’s position.

“Cpl. William Furnari has been a Police Officer with the St. Albans Police Department since July 1, 2011. Prior to that he served with the Windsor Police Department,” Chief of the St. Albans Police Department, Gary Taylor said.

Furnari graduated from Norwich University in 2010.

“I actually went to college, initially, to be a nurse. I was in nursing school for two years [and I] hated every minute of it. Absolutely hated it,” Furnari said.

Furnari did some experimenting with public service work.

“I kind of enjoyed emergency services so I figured police work might be fun. I did a ride along with State Police that June… So June of 2008 I did a ride along with State Police and then figured I’d give it a shot. I figured I’d probably be good at it. Sure enough, I did alright,” Furnari said.

Furnari looks forward to working with students and staff inside BFA.

“I’ve actually wanted to be a School Resource Officer; being the school’s police officer since I started law enforcement… I’ve been working toward this for a while,” Furnari said.

Furnari thinks that he is relatively well equipped for his new job in BFA.

“I’m very talkative; I have a hard time sitting still, so I have a habit of walking around a lot, which benefits the school and the students and gets my face out there,” Furnari said.

While in school, Furnari hopes to take on something of a teaching role as an important part of his work.

“The whole idea of having a police officer in the school, there’s a safety aspect… However, there’s also a huge advantage to [the students] getting to know a police officer or getting to know police officers as human; as people and as approachable people… [we want to start] fostering trust,” Furnari said.

Many thanks to Officer Talley for all of his work with students and staff.

In late August, let’s all welcome Corporal Will Furnari with open arms!