Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Troy McCullough, Tim Davis, Jennifer Holland, Kathleen Carlson and Jenny Hykes.

There’s a new sheriff in town. OK, so he’s the Urbandale school district’s new drug liaison officer, not a sheriff.

But he is intending to make a difference.

The school district’s former liaison officer was James Trimble, who was fired in January after he was found with drugs stolen from the police department.

He has since pled guilty to a felony charge of possession and intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Trimble’s actions cost the police department a lot of trust in the Urbandale community.

If the police department cannot be trusted to educate our children about the dangers of drugs and turn out to be as irresponsible and reckless as our most irresponsible and reckless, who can?

Maybe Doug Bartels.

Bartels takes over the position Trimble was booted out of following the drug scandal. Bartels isn’t just replacing another officer.

He’s going to have to pick up the pieces in Urbandale. He’s going to have to restore the faith where currently there is probably very little.

Officer Bartels has said he’s already good-naturedly endured a few wisecracks from students as they walk by, students whose trust and faith in the police and school’s drug education program has been badly shaken.

With Bartels’ credentials in being experienced with drug education programs for young people, such as founding Iowa’s D.A.R.E. Association and his obvious enthusiasm for the difficult task ahead of him, perhaps he can restore that faith.

He’ll need the support of the Iowa community to do it. Let’s hope Doug Bartels can be as successful as James Trimble was a failure. And let’s hope we give him as much attention when he does succeed as the Iowa community gave Trimble when he let Iowa children down.