Orange County commissioners unanimously approved money Tuesday to hire 75 additional school resource officers.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings requested $11 million to help secure Orange County Public Schools.
“This opportunity to hire the 75 positions provides us an opportunity to recruit and continue to place personnel where they are needed as well as get some of our personnel back into the community,” Capt. Angelo Nieves with the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
However, it could be months until the positions are filled, officials said.
"We're the largest agency," he said. "Seventy-five deputy sheriffs is a considerable amount of deputy sheriffs. It takes months to hire."
Demings said the money is needed to comply with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which was created after the Valentine's Day massacre in Parkland.
“We just approved some funding. What we need though, we need a law enforcement officer in our schools, every school, as quickly as possible,” Jacobs said.
Demings has not said if deputies are spending an entire day at each campus, and that ignited a public spat last week between him and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs.
Demings, who is running for Orange County mayor, and Jacobs, who is running for Orange County School Board chair, held dueling news conferences Wednesday.
"The implication that we would somehow compromise the safety of our students really is insulting," Demings said last week. "Our schools are safe, and we have a workable plan going forward."
On Monday, Channel 9 asked the Orange County Sheriff's Office if that plan includes every school having its own dedicated resource officer the entire school day.
A Sheriff's Office spokesman reiterated that the agency cannot disclose that for safety reasons.
Jacobs said some schools might have to share a resource officer until the positions are filled.
Demings said he will try to expedite the hiring and training process for deputies.
Cox Media Group
