South Daytona, FL-South Daytona Elementary School has landed a school resource officer thanks to a Department of Justice grant just announced. The money is part of more than $2 million in grants just announced nationwide through the DOJ and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
South Daytona Police PIO Lt. Dan Deitrich says South Daytona has only one county school in it’s boundaries and that’s the elementary school. Previously, there was no school resource officer there. Deitrich also says the grant money will help pay for a new program called “Focus on Safety” which will target 5th graders to help them resist bullying, build character, and avoid gangs and drugs.
Deitrich says there’s no hard start date yet for the school resource officer, but the grant will also open up a police officer position in the force.
The grant is over three years and Deitrich hopes it can be extended to keep the officer at the elementary school.
The DOJ grant is $125,000.
A list of DOJ grants state-by-state is here.
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