9 Investigates uncovered a plan to allow Orange County corrections officers to take home department-issued guns.
Before that can happen, equipment meant to keep those weapons from getting into the wrong hands has to be distributed.
That equipment has been sitting in storage since June.
Right now, corrections officers who are assigned weapons have to check them out from the Department Armory at the beginning of each shift. The county purchased 174 gun safes in June, but they won’t be distributed until policies are written and training is completed.
Channel 9 got a look at the portable biometric safes, which can be opened with a fingerprint.
9 Investigates learned Orange County purchased the Liberty HDX 250 gun vaults from Arms Room on Colonial Drive at a total cost of around $33,000.
A corrections sergeant proposed the plan, arguing there would be a reduction in manpower hours by eliminating daily armory stops to check out weapons.
That proposal also cited officer safety concerns, writing that staff should not be operating any marked department vehicles unless they are armed.
State law separates corrections officers from police or deputies, meaning they won’t have any more power outside of their work duties than the average gun owner.
The move comes with some risk.
Just this year, we reported on a rash of stolen law enforcement weapons, including a rifle stolen from a Tavares officer, two Orlando police weapons taken in February, and an assault rifle stolen from a Howey in the Hills lieutenant.
A corrections spokesperson told WFTV in a statement:
"Safety is paramount. Orange County Corrections continues to finalize new policy, as well as develop an appropriate safety training and implementation plan, prior to the release of any vaults to personnel which includes providing clear direction and expectation regarding the proper storage and handling of departmental weapons.
The training and implementation plan will begin in the next two weeks and should all be completed within 30 days based on staff availability."
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/cmg/98c7c669-c511-4b04-9520-a1fb8d7ffae5.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/3VR7NGDWZFETFMN3WASLUY2ZCQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/UIRTNXH5QNDLTPNDHIBFKHWWYU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/MQKXSQQOIJFURKMSFTWXAHBVKQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/JYXYA3DGSNHUHHIWQUR4DNX6LM.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V6Z6MA5BMBFM3BM4QIFFS26LKA.jpeg)