In a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee regarding local law enforcement and their counterterrorism efforts, Orange County Sherriff Jerry Demings mentioned that there are currently federal agents who are embedded in the Orlando-area theme parks.
“I will say that we enjoy a pretty good relationship with our federal authorities there in the metropolitan Orlando area because of what we have there in terms of the theme parks. We have federal agents who are embedded within our theme parks and so that forces us to communicate,” Demings said. (You can view the clip of that from C-Span here.) Demings did not go into further details about the roles of these officers.
Following attacks across the country and around the world, many theme parks have upped their security in recent months. At Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and non-Disney properties, secondary screenings including metal detectors have been added in an effort to prevent any security incidents. Sadly, domestic terrorism is back in the news this week following explosions in New Jersey and New York this past weekend.
Demings was called to testify before the committee in relation to the tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub in June.