KISSIMMEE, Fla. — For the first time, school resource officers with the Kissimmee Police Department are training alongside some youngsters.

What You Need To Know

  • Students part of training for Kissimmee school resource officers

  • They are training with young people on appropriate use of force

  • The program follows an incident at Liberty High when a student was thrown to the ground

  • Scenarios are important because officers revert to training, police chief says

KPD just started re-creating basic scenarios with children in light of an incident that took place at Liberty High earlier this year, when a school resource officer slammed a student to the ground. 

The goal is to take into consideration the age and size of these young people, when it comes to applying the appropriate use of force. 

“A child… Most of the time [has] a smaller statue than an adult,” according to Eric Diaz, a school resource officer at Renaissance Charter School at Tapestry. “So if they use a type of force you’re not really going to use the same force that you used on someone else… Like another child or adult.”

Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell said scenarios like these are crucial because officers always revert back to training, Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell said. He said he hopes more agencies will pick up on this type of hands-on training.