Newport school officer leaves for a new beat with a sense of success

After five years of working at campuses in Newport Beach, a memory from early in the job still stands out for School Resource Officer Marie Gamble.

“My very first year, this student — he was an eighth-grader — he got in trouble with some drugs,” Gamble said.

She headed to Ensign Intermediate School to help with the situation. As a school-assigned officer, Gamble, a 10-year veteran with the Newport Beach Police Department, was the point of contact when the criminal justice system had to deal with students.

In this case, the eighth-grader was facing possible legal consequences in addition to the school’s disciplinary measures, Gamble recalled Wednesday.

But Gamble made a point to talk to him. They sat down for a heart-to-heart.

“I’m here.... I’m here to help you,” she remembers telling him. “I want to see you improve.”

For the next four years, as he worked his way through high school, the boy returned to Gamble.

They talked about schoolwork, family, girls — anything he needed help with.

In less than a month, that student will graduate from Newport Harbor High School, and Gamble too will move on.

Gamble is headed back to patrol at the end of the school year. Newport Beach officers typically spend five years on a given specialty assignment before rotating to something else.

On Wednesday, staff members and students at Newport Harbor — where Gamble spent the bulk of her time as a resource officer — thanked her for her commitment to the students.

“She’s been incredible,” said Principal Sean Boulton.

Gamble said leaving is bittersweet.

She’ll miss the chance for personal connections, something that drew her to the assignment.

“When I came across a student that was maybe dealing with a crisis or got in trouble, I had that opportunity to follow up with them the next day,” she said. “And you don’t get that in patrol.”

But Gamble, 33, said she hopes the school experience will help her advance to the next step in her career. She can apply for another position in the department, and she wants to eventually be a detective.

Gamble remembers being intimidated when she first stepped onto the Newport Harbor campus, where she was taking over for a popular officer.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to fill his shoes? How am I going to get to know all these kids?’” she said.

But about a month ago, Gamble received proof that at least one of those kids felt that she had succeeded.

The student she sat down with at Ensign five years earlier had sent her a letter.

As part of a senior-year assignment, the boy had to write to someone who had helped propel him to graduation. Gamble said she was surprised to get his note thanking her for her influence as he heads to college.

“I’m very excited for him,” Gamble said.

The gesture helped inspire a piece of advice that Gamble has for her eventual replacement: Take every chance you get to build relationships with students and school staff.

“You never know what kind of impact you’re going to have on somebody,” she said.