OCSO recoups some expenses from Pulse

Most of $27,000 grant used on damaged equipment

Nearly 10 months after the Orange County Sheriff’s Office helped respond to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, it has finally received reimbursement for some of the costs incurred the morning of June 12 with a $27,000 grant through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The Sheriff’s Office sent 127 deputies to assist the Orlando Police Department and dozens of other police and fire departments with the response to the attack on the Pulse nightclub that killed 49 and injured more than 68 others, according to public records.

During their work, “including time spent on scene, at hospitals, securing the scene and area and initial investigations,” Sheriff’s Office equipment from boots to bomb robots were contaminated and broken, according to the OCSO’s application for the Justice Assistance Grant.

The agency has paid tens of thousands of dollars to replace, repair and decontaminate the damaged items, but the $27,000 is offsetting the expenses after the acceptance of the grant was approved at an Orange County Commission meeting March 21.

The majority of the grant went to reimbursing the $20,000 the Sheriff’s Office had to spend to repair its bomb robot used in the Pulse response, according to OCSO’s application for the JAG grant. The Pulse shooter, Omar Mateen, had falsely claimed he placed explosives in and around the club.

Nearly $4,000 was spent offering mental health services such as counseling and Crisis Incident Stress Management services, which helps first responders decompress after working highly traumatic scenes, the application said.

The rest of the money was spent on decontamination and replacement of equipment exposed to biohazardous matter or damaged in the response, according to the application.

About $1,300 was spent on replacing 10 deputies’ boots, with each pair costing $130, according to the application. Another $2,125 was spent decontaminating salvageable equipment.

There was also a $100 expense for “technical equipment,” according to the application.

This is the second JAG grant the Sheriff ’s Office received related to the Pulse shooting. They previously received a JAG grant for about $108,000 to cover the costs spent to pay deputies who worked overtime during and after the Pulse response.

The Orlando Police Department received the same grant, with the FDLE awarding them about $310,000 for reimbursement of paying its officers overtime to work the incident, OPD spokeswoman Michelle Guido said.

The Police Department did not apply for a JAG grant for repair and replacement expenses.