By Police1 Staff
BABSON PARK, Fla. — A school in a Florida will join a program that allows staff to become “special deputies” so they can carry firearms at work.
WTVT reports that Webber International University announced a partnership with the Polk County Sheriff’s Department to expand the Sentinel Program. The voluntary program will allow school staff to be armed at school.
Under current Florida law, only law enforcement members can carry on school property. The program will get around that by making staffers “special deputies.”
“We’re gonna send the message to those people that you’re not coming onto a campus being the only person on the campus with a firearm,” Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Gun control is clearly in place on school campuses in the state of Florida. How did that work last week in Broward County?”
The Polk County Sheriff’s office said volunteers will undergo rigorous training that’s more intense than what deputies experience.
“Everyone just has to ask themselves that question: My babies, your babies, are in that classroom and that active shooter is coming down the hallway with that thousand-yard stare and that gun in their hand. Do you want somebody to step out and stop him? Or do you want him to go into that classroom and slaughter your babies?” Judd added. “That’s where we are with that issue today.”