Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990 TAG: 9003290738
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His rules are simple: You don't do drugs or booze, you carry no weapons, and you keep your hands off teachers.
Violate Rayl's rules and you're busted.
He is a resource officer - a job best described as part-cop, part-teacher and part-counselor - and his beat covers the hallways and the cafeteria, the sporting events and the dances at Wilson.
"Adolescents have a lot of problems," he said. "In today's society, we have no role models. We have no heroes."
Rayl, 37, hopes to fill the gap.
As a resource officer in the school, he cajoles and counsels children on everything from truancy to drug use. If counseling fails and they hit teachers or bring drugs to school, his role as a police officer takes over.
"I don't care if you are rich or poor or who your parents are," he said. "If you break those rules, you go downtown."
Rayl prefers an informal approach.
He attends after-school events such as school-sponsored bowling and skating parties. Once a week, he dons his police uniform as a reminder that police officers can also be friends.
"You handle just about all of society's problems," he said. "Most every kid goes to school."
Sometimes, dealing with the problems can bring a reward.
This fall, a 22-year-old man who was once a problem student contacted Rayl, who had arrested him for drug use.
"He thanked me and said I had helped to straighten out his life," Rayl said. "His father was missing and he had no one to give him that little punch in the rear end he needed."
And several years ago, a boy pushed another youth who had sprinkled pepper on his lunch.
Rayl investigated and found that lunch was the only meal the boy was getting. He referred the matter to social services, who got the boy some help.
Rayl learned firsthand how to cope with adversity. He said that helps him understand the kids' problems.
His leg was crushed in November 1982 when a car ran into the side of his police motorcycle.
At first, doctors told him the leg would have to be amputated. Then they said he might never have use of his leg again.
Today, he has disciplined himself to walk without a limp, although his leg does stiffen if he sits too long.
That discipline also helped through trauma in 1978, when he killed a man who attacked him with a gun.
"You just pray to God that you never have to do it," he said. "You never, never feel good about taking another human life, regardless of the cause. But it is something that you just wake up one day and realize that it is just part of your job and you get on with your life."
His work with the children has helped him heal.
And more than 15 years after he left a higher-paying job at a Fairfax hotel to become a police officer, he has few regrets.
"I knew I wasn't religious enough to be a preacher or smart enough to be a brain surgeon. I figured this might be my calling in life: to help people," he said.
"The money was nice. The cause was more important."
by CNB