His Job: Stopping Student Violence Before It Occurs

Crime Scenes

As he does on most days, Goodwin spent Monday visiting schools, making unannounced visits to classrooms, and he started after lunch at West Baltimore's Gilmor Elementary, which he remembers as Public School No. 108, where his education began in 1963 and continued to 1968, kindergarten through fifth grade.

The chief poked his head into classrooms and walked through the lunchroom. "Ready for a good year?" he asked the kids, some of whom proudly announced their desires to be police officers or FBI agents, but some, like one little girl, hid under a desk at the sight of Goodwin's holstered gun.

"Hi, Mr. Police," a fourth-grade class cried out in unison as their teacher led them single file down a hallway marked with "stop" signs to control the flow.

The encounters were brief, though principals did buttonhole Goodwin for help - one had graffiti in the playground, an elementary school leader was concerned about a nearby high school letting out about the same time and a high school principal told him mentoring help promised from his office had never materialized.

Goodwin handed out his cell phone number and told them to call him.

The job description is simple: "My job is for children to be safe, and to get them safety to and from school."

The actual job is harder.