TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today recognized Officer Jesse Day of the Orlando Police Department as the "2009 School Resource Officer of the Year". The Attorney General's Office presented the award At the 30th annual conference of the Florida Association of School Resource Officers in Jacksonville. The conference was attended by more than 300 law enforcement officers from around the state.

"School Resource Officers play an important role in protecting and mentoring children, and I'm especially proud of their commitment to my cybersafety education efforts," said Attorney General Bill McCollum.  "Officer Day's dedication to the well-being of his students is evident in the impact he has made on the lives of many 'at risk' children."

Officer Day began working with the School Resource Unit in 2007. Over the past two years, he has ingrained himself in the learning environment of Glenridge Middle School, mentoring students, initiating new programs and teaching students the importance of being good citizens. In his first year, he initiated a semester-long mentoring program called "Ride to the Top" and every Tuesday morning before school he mentored 30 students in danger of failing. By the end of the semester, all 30 students had brought their grade point averages up above 2.0.

Additionally, Officer Day developed an afterschool program called "Gateway to the Future" with the primary goal of increasing the sense of Positive achievement in young men and women in his school. Each student completing the program gained skills in leadership, teamwork, responsibility and communication.

"It is indeed an honor to congratulate Officer Jesse Day on being selected as the School Resource Officer of the Year," said Orlando Chief of Police Val Demings. "Jesse has devoted so many years to working with youth; investing in their future. He is an outstanding role model, mentor, and committed public servant. He is very deserving of this recognition."

Officer Day was selected as the seventh recipient of the annual School Resource Officer of the Year award. Also honored at this year's conference were 13 law enforcement officers who received the designation as School Resource Officer Practitioners after completing a rigorous training program through the Attorney General's Office.

Since 1988, the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute - a unit of the Attorney General's Office - has offered the designation of School Resource Officer Practitioner. This designation is conferred to document an individual's successful completion of a series of SRO training courses offered by the institute. The officer must complete 130 hours of juvenile-related courses from the institute or other authorized training sources. With the addition of the 13 officers receiving the designation today, a total of 255 School Resource Officers have been designated as practitioners.