The Dunkirk Police Department will use overtime to send an officer to the city’s alternative school program this year.

City Clerk Edwin Ramos announced a request from the Dunkirk school district for the officer, during last week’s Common Council meeting.

The district sought an officer for the afterschool program at Dunkirk Junior/Senior High School, on Mondays through Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. It offered to pay for the overtime.

Police Chief David Ortolano said at Tuesday’s meeting that he recently met with the district superintendent and the director of the alternative program to go over the request.

“I did tell them, just so everyone is aware, I cannot guarantee that every single day after school, we will have a police officer there,” he said. “Things get busy… we have other things happening, and our guys and girls get busy and they just aren’t going to be able to sign up for every one of those shifts, but we will cover as many of them as our people will.”

The council later unanimously approved a motion to provide the officer as requested.

The Dunkirk school district has a permanent “school resource officer” assigned to it during the regular school day.