NICEVILLE, Fla. — Partnering with the Okaloosa County School District, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has one of the top-performing school resource officer programs in the country and Niceville High School Resource Officer Deputy Tori Mason is one more example of why!
There is a myriad of reasons why Mason is the OCSO 2021 School Resource Officer of the Year, according to a press release from the OCSO.
It reads:
Deputy Tori Mason began serving her community in 2013 as an investigator with DCF. Wanting to enter law enforcement, she completed the Florida Criminal Justice Standards Program and began working with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in 2016.
In 2018, she transitioned to the OCSO, continuing to follow her calling and becoming a School Resource Officer.
When she was assigned as the SRO for Plew Elementary School she quickly built a rapport with everyone there. In early 2021, looking for new challenges, Deputy Mason requested to transfer to Niceville High School.
With her skill set and personality, she earned the trust of the administrative staff and built great working relationships. After the start of the 2021-2022 school year, that trust effectively led to the closure of numerous school cases. Working as a team, Deputies Mason and Hudson shared approximately 69 reports with eight teen court referrals.
One significant case involved the TikTok “Devious Licks” challenge where students competed nationwide to video themselves stealing or destroying school property. Niceville High was not immune.
The administration worked alongside Deputies Mason and Hudson as they researched tips, interviewed witnesses and suspects, and reviewed video. Deputy Mason’s technology expertise sped up locating evidence on social media apps and phones, as well as navigating the trail of suspects.
As a result, she was able to identify suspects and stifle the challenge, limiting damage and loss.
Another major contribution was a case involving a teacher that went public when parents spoke out during a school board meeting. Deputy Mason was tasked with completing the report reflecting the investigation’s outcome.
All who read the report, from Investigators to Captains and Majors, praised her thoroughness. The findings from an investigation by CID upheld the original determination by Deputies Mason and Hudson.
Deputy Mason has a compassionate heart demonstrated by the numerous proactive measures she took when she learned a student was planning to take his own life.
One important element of his despair was not feeling noticed.
However, he noted Deputy Mason knew his name and spoke to him in the halls. This turned out to be a key factor that kept him from following through on his intentions.
Deputy Mason has been the Sex Offender Coordinator for the east district since 2019 and oversees 38 offenders.
In addition, she became a member of our Dive Team, recently helping with the recovery of a missing free diver to bring closure to his family.
Over the summer, she posed as an undercover juvenile as part of an ICAC operation, leading to the arrest of two “travelers” and laying the foundation for the arrest of a third.
Deputy Mason has been a Teen Driver Instructor since 2019 and instructs approximately 90% of the classes each year. Heading home from work one day, she stopped to help a panicking young driver at a traffic crash. The mother of the driver was so impressed with her actions, she emailed the Sheriff and signed up her daughter for the Teen Driver Challenge.
Deputy Mason contributed to the Angel Tree program, donated funds collected at her school to purchase a canoe for a new Sheriff’s Youth Ranch camp, and helped solidify the local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers where she is now Chapter President.
She volunteers as a Big Sister for the Big Brothers/Big Sister program. On top of all this she is actively pursuing her master’s degree in Public Administration. She recently achieved a certificate in Leadership in Public Service and Non-Profit Administration while maintaining a 3.9 grade point average.
Deputy Mason was not only a recipient of the Florida CGI – “Celebrating Strength Award”, which recognizes heroes across Florida “who go above and beyond”, she earned the grand prize.
Last but not least, she was nominated for the National Association of School Resource Officers Regional Exceptional Service Award naming “individuals for continuous and sustained service to the school community above and beyond that expected of a normal SRO.”
It is with extreme pleasure we announce Deputy Tori Mason as our School Resource Officer of the Year.
