BURLINGTON — Debbie Florence retired from her job as a police officer in Florida, but she couldn't shake her love of children and law enforcement.

        Deputy Florence was one of four new school resource officers sworn in by the Boone County Sheriff's Department Thursday. Resource officers are sworn deputies who carry weapons and have full arrest powers.

        “I was a DARE officer and a high school coach in swimming and volleyball,” Deputy Florence said. “I just wanted to continue working with kids.”
       

Range of duties
        Ms. Florence, 45, a former deputy for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, is assigned to Gray Middle School in Union. The other three school resource officers are: Kerry Curry (formerly with the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky In ternational Airport Police Department), to Conner Middle School in Hebron; Jan Wuchner (Kentucky State Police) to Walton-Verona Junior-Senior High; and Damian Stanton (Florence Police) to Ockerman Middle School in Florence.

        In addition to patrol duties at school, the officers teach occasional classes, counsel students, conduct building security checks — and are able to defend the school in an emergency.

        “Some of them have been doing (police work) 10, 15, 20 years,” Boone County Sheriff's Deputy Daren Harris said. “They've seen a lot; that's why we picked them.”

        Thursday's new hires bring the total number of officers to eight, plus Deputy Joe Humbert, a former Florence officer who supervises the program.

        Every public middle and high school in the county now has an officer, Boone County Sheriff Mike Helmig said. He said the program also helps the rest of the department because other deputies don't have to be removed from patrol duties.

        The program's goal is to make students feel comfortable talking to police. It start with the uniforms: black polo shirts and khaki-colored pants replace the department's brown uniforms.
       

A matter of trust
        “The neat thing is, we're getting information from the kids (for) other cases,” Deputy Humbert said. “These kids know what's going on. These kids trust those officers.”

        Deputy Humbert said officers also respond to the county's two private schools, St. Henry District High on Donaldson Road and Heritage on U.S. 42.

        State grants totaling $813,000 pay for the 2-year-old program until 2003. Sheriff Helmig was not sure how the county would pay for it later.

        “With the success we've had, I don't see us dropping it,” he said.

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