Kerry Bathe has been working as an officer in Cass County for 18 years. Now, with the idea of truancy enforcement coming into the public school system, it may decrease the problems in Cassopolis Public Schools. Bathe is working in Cassopolis as well as the Marcellus school district.
This is Blathe’s 43rd year working in law enforcement.  Along with his experience in working in Cass County, he did community policing for 12 years. Blathe worked with photography, crime scenes and went to a specialty school for his experience in law enforcement.
Part of the truancy enforcement effort among staff and agencies is to achieve maximum public safety, reduce juvenile delinquency and crime, including truancy, which has became a big concern in Cass County. Parents as well as students work with problems in school, also with the involvement of the court and probation systems.
Along with Cassopolis, there are other school districts that are involved with truancy enforcement: Dowagiac Schools, Edwardsburg and Marcellus. Facilities that took part in truancy to help families and students are the Department of Human Services, Woodland and the Cass County prosecutor’s office, part of the court system.
The efforts of Bathe being in the school system and helping out with truancy was put in place by the court system and Sherriff Joseph Underwood Jr. of the Cass County Sheriff’s Department. Bathe is getting more information and learning new things as he is going along, only being on the job a couple of weeks.