By: Maria Allard | Warren Weekly | Published March 3, 2025
WARREN — Officers DeAndre Tucker and Adnan Durrani of the Warren Police Department, who safeguard Lincoln High School and the other buildings in the Van Dyke Public Schools district, have strong connections to the students they serve and protect.
They know exactly what it’s like to attend school in the district because they were once Lincoln students themselves. Durrani graduated from Lincoln in 1993, and Tucker, in 2009. Both have returned to their alma mater as the district’s school resource officers. Their days are filled with greeting students each morning, building relationships, deescalating problems and assisting staff, all in an effort to make the school safer.
Durrani knew as a teenager he wanted to pursue a law enforcement career.
“I grew up in the south end of Warren. When my parents used to drop me off at Lincoln Middle School, I used to tell my dad I wanted to be a Warren police officer one day,” Durrani said. “I always used to see them driving around. My dad used to tell me, ‘Make sure you stay in school and stay out of trouble,’ and that’s what I did.”
Durrani spent 25 years working for the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office. Upon retirement, he “decided to come here to fulfill my childhood dream I had.”
“I think it’s a calming presence when we’re here. When we talk to students, we let them know we are here to be your best friend, but we’re here to do our job also. They can’t get away with anything they do even though we’re out here looking out for them,” Durrani said. “We want them to feel safe. We want them to come to school.”
Tucker originally studied culinary arts, especially after taking cooking classes while at Lincoln. But after two weeks in college, he traded in meal prep lessons for criminology classes, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. For several years, Tucker worked in Detroit’s 9th Precinct but always kept Warren on his radar.
“I also wanted to work in Detroit because I was born and raised on Six Mile (Road), so I got to police in my old neighborhood,” Tucker said. “When I had the opportunity, I came to Warren, and I knew the south end. I got to work in both hometowns, so it worked out.”
Tucker is stationed at Lincoln High School while Durrani is stationed right next door at Lincoln Middle School. They also are responsible for the district’s three elementary schools: Carlson, McKinley and Lincoln, and the Kennedy Early Childhood Center.
Both have found returning to the classrooms where they learned rewarding. The students inspire them, and the officers do all they can to make them feel supported.
“I strive to help them make better choices than I did, sharing my experiences to guide them toward brighter futures,” Tucker said. “Knowing that I can make a difference in the same place that made a difference in my life is what makes this job more than just a career. It’s a personal commitment to the future of my community.”
“Now, after 35 plus years, I’m proud to be walking the same hallways where I had so many great childhood memories,” Durrani said. “The fact that I’m back in my hometown being a Warren police officer makes me very proud.”
‘Sometimes it’s a team effort’
One of the biggest issues Durrani sees is bullying.
“Kids not getting along, like it was when I was in school. Making fun of their haircut or the clothes that they’re wearing, they get bullied,” Durrani said. “They’re kids. We all went through it. Most times they work through it.”
“Social media is a headache. Most of our issues come from the streets into the building,” Tucker said. “You might have somebody having a problem with somebody that day, but mostly it’s because somebody said something online that wasn’t true. Or they reposted from a group chat. Social media has changed the whole dynamic of everything.”
The officers use different avenues to calm a student down when necessary. Sometimes a social worker, counselor or hall monitor is brought into the situation.
“It’s a combination for me. It’s about who that kid feels comfortable with,” Tucker said. “As long as we can get them from a 10 to a three, and then I’ll come in if it’s something legally I have to do. Sometimes it’s a team effort.”
“It depends on the child. Sometimes they want to talk to a uniformed police officer,” Durrani said. “Sometimes they don’t. They just want to talk to a counselor, a teacher or a principal.”
Tucker has had to arrest two students while on the job, placing them in handcuffs. The school resource officers also mentor the students and talk about their own life experiences.
“A lot of them are willing to listen,” Durrani said. “Go to school. Get an education and you can become whoever you want to be.”
“It’s not always how you start, it’s how you finish,” Tucker said. “I always tell them, ‘You’re going to make mistakes but try to minimize those mistakes.’”
There is always time for fun, too, with the students such as going to school dances and sporting events. At Christmastime, Tucker is known to dress up as Santa Claus. The students show their appreciation to the officers by making homemade pictures for them and other gifts.
“Just the other day I wanted my favorite candy, and the instructor didn’t have it,” Durrani said. “This seventh grade girl brought them to my office and gave them to me the next day because she heard me talking. It was awesome.”
It was an adjustment for both officers to leave the street patrol for the schools.
“It’s a different atmosphere dealing with juveniles instead of adults,” Durrani said.
“It is a transition phase,” Tucker said. “You’ve to figure out different ways to get through the younger minds of the world versus adults.”
Durrani and Tucker — both involved in sports when in school — have crossed paths with educators they once had who are still teaching in the district.
“My basketball coach from seventh grade, my English teacher and my counselor are still here,” Durrani said. “They remember me. They taught me 35 years ago and now I’m working beside them.”
‘It’s that personal connection that’s authentic’
“It’s less about problems and more about being proactive,” Van Dyke Public Schools Superintendent Piper Bognar said. “To have their support and have them as part of our team, rather than just two people who come in every day and work their hours and leave, they’re able to show they are part of our school community.
“Both of these gentlemen are willing to share things with the students about why it’s important to do the right thing, why they can learn from their mistakes and how they should move forward in a way that’s beneficial to them,” Bognar said. “Sometimes they serve as mentors to our students, sometimes they serve as just another listening ear. They can also be members of our crisis and safety team. They can serve as another pair of watching eyes in the hallway. They’re also contacts for our parents and our families.”
Warren Police Lt. John Galewski said Tucker and Durrani “are perfect for the job.”
“As community policing, we are always trying to connect and have that bond with the community. Officer Tucker and officer Durrani have a bond with every student here because they were students, too,” Galewski said. “It’s that personal connection that’s authentic. You can’t fake it, and the students know that. These are the school resource officers that anybody who went to high school would want to have. Somebody who was in their shoes, walked the same halls they did, played in the same gym, these are the people you want to talk to if you are a high school student.”