ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Sheriff's Office on Friday provided some insight into how school resource deputies are selected after a viral video showed one of them pulling the hair of a teenage girl.
The incident occurred Nov. 7 after a fight spilled into a parking lot next to Westridge Middle School. The deputy in the video, Harry Reid, was immediately fired by the Sheriff's Office.
The family of the teenager, Wilmica Edmond, said they are considering filing charges against the deputy, and want the Sheriff's Office to review the process for how school resource officers are hired and placed in school.s
School resource deputies are mainly filled with internal candidates who have at least two years of continuous service as a patrol deputy and is in good standing, the Sheriff's Office said.
Candidates must attend a 40-hour school resource deputy training, a 40-hour crisis intervention training and other annual training that could include firearms re-certification, active shooter training and legal updates.
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If hired, a deputy must also go through the Sheriff's Office's hiring process which can include truth verification, panel interview, complete background check, medical exam, drug screening and psychological evaluation.
School resource deputies must have a current Florida Law Enforcement Officer certification, at least two years of prior law-enforcement experience and go through nine weeks of basic training, 14 weeks of field training and more.
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Edmond said during a news conference on Friday that Reid hurt her neck when he yanked her hair, and that she has been having trouble sleeping at night and is seeing a doctor for the pain.
Edmond's family said they want to explore filing battery charges with the State Attorney's Office.
Edmond said she was in the back of the deputy's patrol car for 10 minutes after the fight broke out.
"I was crying, and I was like, ‘Why am I here?'" Edmond said. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I was going to jail or not."
Orange County Sheriff's Office in a statement declined to comment on Friday's news conference.
"The criminal investigation into former deputy Harry Reid is ongoing, and when it is completed, the results will be turned over to the State's Attorney's Office, which will determine whether criminal charges are appropriate," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Reid's personnel file will be released at a later date, the Sheriff's Office said.
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