Police. Noun. The civil force of a national or local government, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order. But what is a police officer? To some it is a rude, mean, or selfish person who has power over them. Others it is a friendly face, a protective system, or a scare. To students at Manhattan High School a police officer is officer Randy Pushee.

Pushee has been serving in the police force for 25 years, being a friendly face to all. Good, bad, troubled or emotional. He has seen it all. His goal has always been to help but most importantly to show students that police officers are not all bad.

“Developing these relationships with students matters,” Pushee said. “The only contact they have had with police is bad, where they arrested mom or dad. Now they get to see that we are here to help.”

Throughout his years with seeing students faces coming in as young freshman and watching them grow to be successful seniors, nothing has made him want to stop helping.

“I have had a couple of experiences with kids where they have started as freshman and they were very troubled,” Pushee said. “I got to know them and developed a relationship with them and I was able to watch them completely turn their life around and go on and succeed.”

Everything he does for MHS he has one thing on his mind everyday: to keep students happy and safe.

“The number one thing is that everything is safe and secure,” Pushee said. “The other main thing is coming around and getting to know everybody.”

Everyday when he puts on his police uniform, he hopes that he can come to the school and make it a great day for at least one student. He never stops working throughout his day. During his interview he would ignore a question and ask students where they were headed and what they were doing. Smiling at others and making sure they are having a great day.

Pushee has felt many connections with students. A great bond between students is what he strives for, so that if a student has problems he is trusted by a child and can talk to them.

“The student was in distress, he was a emotional wreck things were going bad, and he wasn’t listening to administration,” Pushee said. “Since he had known me for four years, I was able to talk to him and found out what the problem was. The student was able to calmed himself down because I had no answer for him about the topic he was upset about. Since we had developed a mutual respect, where he respected me and I respected him, we were able to defuse the problem.”

He wants to have that mutual respect with all students he encounters. Good and Bad. He just wants students to know they should not be scared of a police officer.

Pushee wants to continue his life after retiring from the police force with students.

“I was planning on teaching but I didn’t get the teaching job,” Pushee said. “I may still do that in a year or two. Technology education or woodshop. I may come back and work for Manhattan High School in some capacity.”

As MHS says goodbye to officer Randy Pushee for now, the school knows that the impact he has had on students and teachers will carry though minds. Some people will still live by the words he has said to them and remember the impact he had on their lives.