GPD's School Resource Officers win 'Florida Agency of the Year'

Gainesville Police Department School Resource Officers win "Florida Unit of the Year" award

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gainesville Police Department’s School Resource Officers are the best in the state, and now they have an official award to prove it.

GPD’s SRO Unit was recently awarded the “Florida Agency of the Year” by the Florida Association of School Resource Officers at the 2017 FASRO Annual Training Conference in Orlando, Florida.

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Over 600 School Resource Officers from all of Florida were in attendance during the ceremony.

The “Agency of the Year” award is presented annually to an agency that has made a significant contribution to the development of the School Resource Officer profession. The award is to recognize an agency that has made an impact in training, professional development and organizational efficiency in order to make schools in their community a safer place.

FASRO is the largest state-based organization of its kind, and they offer the most advanced and comprehensive training for SROs in the state of Florida.

GPD’s SROs applied for the award earlier this year and had to compete against all of the other police and sheriff agencies around the state. It has been nine years since a municipal law enforcement agency has received this prestigious award – a sheriff’s office has historically been granted the award.

“We always knew these folks were the best,” GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias said. “These School Resource Officers are much more than security guards. They are involved in the students’ lives and genuinely care about them. I’m so happy that a statewide organization realizes just how hard our folks work to help keep our kids safe and healthy.”