14 deputies added to bolster private armed security guards at St John County schools
St John County FL December 14 2018 For the first five months of the school year, a mix of St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office deputies and armed security guards from a private company kept watch over 39 St. Johns County school campuses.
But when students and teachers return to school after winter break, they will see a lot more Sheriff’s Office green.
Starting on Jan. 7, 14 deputies will begin their permanent assignments as school resource officers at St. Johns County schools with an additional two deputies to be added in possible supervisory and roaming duties. After the deputies take their posts, there will be 25 schools with dedicated school resource officers and 14 schools with armed security guards. Where they will go is still being decided.
This mix of Sheriff’s Office deputies and armed security guards from Georgia-based U.S. Security Associates was meant as a cost-driven solution to the school safety requirements that state legislators mandated this year after the deadly February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Twenty-eight armed security guards were brought in to supplement the 15 youth resource deputies already provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
According to Paul Abbatinozzi, senior director for school services at the school district, the U.S. Security Associates guards will likely remain on campuses where they have been working. The contract with U.S. Security Associates doesn’t expire until the end of the school year.
“It has been a very positive experience,” Abbatinozzi said of working with U.S. Security Associates. “We have had good feedback from administrators and parents.”
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan said the biggest difference between the deputies and the armed guards is their higher authority level and power to arrest, but all are trained for consistency in response tactics and mental health crisis intervention by the Sheriff’s Office.
Mulligan said the deputies moving into school resource officer positions are made up of veteran deputies who applied internally. Their vacated positions will be filled by newly hired deputies, Mulligan said.
“It’s about balance,” Mulligan said of the newly hired school resource officers. “You want a deputy who is mature and experienced to help guide the youth, but they also have to be tactically skilled given the world that we are living in.”
Abbatinozzi said the district plans to keep the same number of deputies and security guards through the end of the school year. Some will work together on campuses, giving some schools an extra security measure. But what happens after that is still up in the air.
“We are evaluating currently where we are at with our numbers,” Abbatinozzi said. “If there are any changes in legislation during the second semester, we will look to evaluate what are plans are next year.”
staugustine.com