A former Duval County school police officer is now facing criminal charges after district officials say he was involved in a romantic relationship with a student, a violation that prompted an outside criminal investigation and a late-night arrest.
An arrest warrant was issued and served on the evening of Thursday, March 26, and the former officer was taken into custody on multiple charges tied to the alleged conduct. District leaders said the criminal case followed an internal review, after which they called in outside law enforcement to dig deeper.
The district's online staff directory lists the officer as Alexander Capasso, a school safety officer assigned to the School Police East unit. That listing appears on the public staff page that shows current assignments for school police personnel, according to Duval County Public Schools.
District officials said Capasso resigned on March 2 and was stripped of all law-enforcement authority while he was under investigation. He was later arrested on charges the district identified as unlawful use of a two-way communication device, authority figure soliciting or engaging in a romantic relationship with a student, and tampering with evidence. The district also said School Police Chief Jackson Short requested assistance from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, adding that the alleged conduct "is not representative of the high standards of integrity required of our law enforcement officers," as reported by First Coast News.
District response and recent reforms
The arrest lands at a tense moment for Duval County Public Schools, which has been dealing with a string of high-profile staff misconduct cases that helped drive new rules for how employees communicate with students and how concerns must be reported.
Those policy changes, approved at the School Board level last year, tightened expectations around teacher-student communications and clarified reporting requirements, according to Action News Jax. Local investigative work has also raised questions about whether earlier complaints in other cases were handled consistently, as detailed by JaxToday.
What the law says
Florida law makes it a crime for an authority figure to solicit or engage in sexual conduct or a romantic relationship with a student. That prohibition, set out in section 800.10 of state law, is treated as a second-degree felony. The statute defines "authority figure" broadly, covering school employees and school resource officers and applying regardless of a student's age, according to the bill text on the Florida Senate website.
Capasso is presumed innocent under the law while the case moves forward. The district said it is cooperating with investigators and urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement or use the district's reporting resources. Duval County Public Schools lists reporting and contact options for parents and community members on its website, including a district contact page for questions and tips.
