the event brought together more than 900 school resource officers from as far away as Hawaii

ORLANDO, FL – On Friday morning, I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at the closing ceremonies of the Florida School Resource Officers Association conference and week-long training program at the Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando.

The event brought together more than 900 School Resource Officers from as far away as Hawaii, who are tasked with protecting American schools every day.

During the presentation, I talked about the role they play in protecting our schools from violence, but also about the opportunity each of them has to make a difference in the life of a child, for they come to these children before they come to us.

How the role of keeping evil away from campus is just one of many roles they play and how important the lasting relationships they develop with students, teachers and parents will be in changing lives.

You see, I can talk firsthand about the incredible impact a school resource assistant by the name of Mike Lawrence had on my life, because he was the person in 1979 who got me interested in applying the law.

Deputy Lawrence introduced me to the Explorer program at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and thanks to him, today I am a 42-year veteran of law enforcement who has the honor of serving as as sheriff of our great county.

Yesterday’s event also gave me the opportunity to share with 900 law enforcement officers that the Assistant/School Resource Officer job will undoubtedly be the most important job they have.

More important than serving as a sheriff, chief, commander, or even an officer, the job of a school resource deputy/officer gives them the opportunity every day to make a difference in a child’s life.

This gives them the opportunity to become deputy Adrian Moss-Beasley, who died a few years ago after a courageous battle with cancer.

During his time with our agency, Adrian served as Deputy Sheriff, Court Security Deputy, and Deputy at our port, but somehow when we posted on social media that we had lost him. , it was his time as a school resource assistant. which prompted thousands of comments on the post, about the impact it had on their lives as students, teachers and parents.

It was the little things Adrian did that changed lives, like having lunch with a child who sat alone, taking a student to the father-daughter prom who had recently lost his father in an accident, making teachers feel safe and be the kindest, strongest soul they have ever seen.

Dear friends, while I thank the members of FASRO for allowing me to speak at their conference, I want you to know that I couldn’t be more proud of the school resource deputies at the county sheriff’s office. from Brevard and School Resource Officers from our local police agency partners. that protect our school campuses, our students, our teachers and our parents who visit our schools.

I am truly amazed at their commitment to protecting our schools and have complete confidence in their abilities to impact our children while standing guard at the gate to ward off evil.

– Sheriff Wayne Ivey

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