To comply with new state legislation mandating armed security in every Florida school, St. Petersburg Police will shift officers from the street into schools, according to Chief Anthony Holloway.

Currently, 33 schools in St. Petersburg are in need a school resource officer.

“We don’t have 33 officers, so we have to find them someplace,” said Holloway. “We don’t want to reduce community services, but we have to figure out how to do it.”

For now, officers will be moved from community policing, which is one of Holloway’s priorities. He has placed a strong emphasis on community police presence to foster trust and build relationships within neighborhoods.

On Thursday, community officers were out playing basketball with dozens of kids near Campbell Park.  Residents say community policing has made neighborhoods safer.

“It will be missed because for the last couple of years, crime has actually been down,” said Jimmy Whitehead and he hit the basketball court with officers. “You can tell the impact they have and how positive it has been, having that.”

“We always say we don’t want people running from the badge, we want them running to the badge,” said Holloway. “You can see we are having a great time today.”

Holloway said shifting officers out of community policing and into the role of protecting schools is a temporary fix until funding can be secured to hire more officers.