HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – With new school year set to start in some form or fashion, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for a new normal by introducing technology to help crossing guards.
On Thursday, crossing guards in Hillsborough County tested out new electronic whistles. They are able to sound off to alert drivers that kids are crossing without the crossing guards having to actually remove their masks.
“It’s also a great resource that will keep our crossing guards safe. The families and children that they interact with every day, twice a day… Keep them safe as well,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister.
Guard Shawny Thomas, who became a crossing guard last year, is excited about the new tool.
“I think (this) will be a much easier way, so (we) will not have to remove our face coverings,” Thomas said.
The sheriff’s office purchased 400 of the devices at a cost of $6,200.
“We wanna protect everybody, including the parents, the children and the teachers that we crossed. So we want to make sure that we are doing our part,” Thomas added.
The crossing guards, of course, are part of the sheriff’s office and the sheriff’s office requires all personal to wear masks, so they said it helps those guards not have to constantly remove them to alert drivers kids are coming.
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