Florida District Creates Own Police Department

Florida District Creates Own Police Department

The department will be comprised of a chief, two lieutenants, four sergeants, 36 school resource officers, three relief school resource officers and a detective.

Clay County Public Schools will have its own police department by the fall after board members voted to create a 47-member department to help with school security.

“We will do it as aggressive as we can in order to have the best to protect our schools,” Superintendent Addison Davis told Action News JAX.

The department will be comprised of a chief, two lieutenants, four sergeants, 36 school resource officers, three relief school resource officers and a detective. Most of the district’s campuses will be covered by the school resource officers.

Following last year’s Parkland shooting, state leaders passed a law requiring every Florida public school to have school resource officers or school safety officers. Clay County schools have been using a combination of school resource officers provided by local law enforcement like the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and employees hired under the Guardian Program.

Under the new plan, the 27 Guardians employed by the district would be phased out after the first year. Some Guardians could become school resource officers working in the district’s police force, according to Davis.

The first year and startup costs total more than $6.1 million, and costs for the second year are estimated at $4.2 million.

Davis said he’s aware that creating the district police department in five months would be difficult. He said the district will hire people to help train staff and the district will search nationwide for a police chief.

“I understand what it takes to get it done, and we’ll do it to the best of our ability,” Davis said.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

Featured

  • Expanding Mobile Access Credentials

    The new academic year is now kicking into high gear at colleges and universities, and on many campuses, students were welcomed this fall with the added convenience and security of mobile access credentials. It is a trend that has become more of an expectation than a surprise in the world of higher education as the demand for advancements in electronic access control (EAC) like mobile credentials continues to grow. Read Now

  • New York School District Selects AtlasIED’s IPX Technology for Modernization Initiative

    The North Syracuse Central School District (NSCSD), a K-12 public school district in Central New York state, serves the communities of North Syracuse, Clay, Cicero, Bridgeport, and Mattydale. With 11 elementary, middle, and high schools, the district covers almost 90 square miles and has 7,792 students and approximately 700 teachers. With some of its school buildings over 60 years old, the district needed to renovate many of them, some more urgently than others. As part of the process, district administrators and staff reevaluated all infrastructure elements and their approach to campus safety, selecting AtlasIED IPX technology to modernize their intercom, audio announcements, and emergency communications systems. Read Now

Webinars