Sheriff Jerry Demings’
request for 75 new deputies to protect schools is approved by Orange County.
Orange County commissioners on Tuesday approved Sheriff Jerry Demings’ request to hire 75 new deputies to watch over schools in unincorporated parts of the county, culminating a week of squabbling between Demings and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs over school safety.
Demings and Jacobs engaged in a back-and-forth dispute last week about how to ensure that each campus in the unincorporated areas has a full-time officer as a state mandate requires.
The commission’s unanimous vote on the measure comes a week before primary Election Day when both are on the ballot seeking new jobs.
Demings, sheriff since 2008, is running to take over for the term-limited Jacobs, who is seeking to be elected Orange County School Board chairwoman after eight years as mayor.
On Monday, the sheriff submitted a memo asking commissioners to approve the new school-resource officers at a cost of $11.2 million, which will be divided among the county, the School Board and the state.
Demings did not attend the meeting but was represented by sheriff’s Capt. Angelo Nieves.
“We’re very excited for the funding,” Nieves said in an interview outside the commission chambers. “The sheriff has given us direction as far as the hiring process, to move forward as quickly as we can. The mayor and the sheriff have the same goal in mind, which is public safety.”
He said the additional lawenforcement presence will reach beyond school campuses.
“We have a number of options and we’re deploying those options to make sure we’re not only patrolling schools on a daily basis but we’re also present in our communities and our business and tourist districts, which are vital to our community,” Nieves said. “We want to make sure we have a presence in all these locations.”
Asked how long it will take for the new deputies to be trained and ready to be posted at schools, he said, “That takes time.”
In the meantime, Nieves said, some roles will be filled immediately by officers on overtime shifts.
District leaders say every Orange County high school has two officers and each middle school has one.
But they’ve refused to reveal details of how deputies will be assigned to elementary schools in unincorporated areas. A total of 105 officers are stationed daily at 116 campuses in unincorporated areas of the county, sheriff’s officials have said.
Jacobs was relieved commissioners approved the request and that all schools will be protected.
“I hope we’re going to have law-enforcement officers in this community who are will-