Remembering Fallen Heroes
Thanks to the Baitinger and Yaslowitz families for sharing a glimpse into the faith, character, and integrity of St. Petersburg's two fallen heroes - Sgt. Thomas Baitinger and Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz. To Chief Harmon and all the men and women of St. Pete PD, job well done at today's memorial service....a fitting tribute and celebration of the lives of these two...Do I Stop or Be Careful and Prudent?
One of the nuances coming out of the new law permitting photo enforcement of red light running violations in Florida is the "careful and prudent" standard for right turns on red. A full stop is not required for photo enforcement activities. Drivers may roll through an intersection, provided they are careful and prudent, and will not receive a Notice of Violation from our red...Red Light Camera Update
The new state statute authorizing photo enforcement of red light running violations went into effect July 1, 2010. This statute preempts camera enforcement to the state, and thus puts all local programs under statutory guidelines rather than municipal ordinances. We completed our conversion process and started enforcement this week in accordance with F.S.S. 316.083. I thought we...SPCA Recognizes K-9 Officer Bosque
We are celebrating National Be Kind to Animals week May 2 - 8, 2010, as proclaimed by the City Commission during this morning's Commission meeting. As part of the proclamation reading today at City Hall, the SPCA gave special recognition to K-9 Officer Jose Bosque and his family for their kindness to K-9 Bronko. This story is heartwarming to say the least. K-9 Bronko nearly gave...So You Want To Be a Sergeant
We just concluded a series of interviews last week with 10 police officers wanting to be promoted to the rank of police sergeant. What an uplifting experience that was for the Department's Executive Staff, though the candidates may describe it as something other than uplifting! Some background information is in order here. We establish a two-year promotion eligibility list for...Presidents’ Roundtable Public Safe...
We just got back from the 42nd Annual Presidents' Roundtable Public Safety Awards Luncheon where public safety professionals around Lakeland and Polk County were honored for exemplary acts of service. The luncheon and awards are hosted by the many civic clubs in the greater Lakeland area who pause this time of the year to give recognition to law enforcement officers, firefighters,...Another Reason to Lock Your Car
Readers of this blog have repeatedly read my pleas for people to lock their valuables or risk losing them - thus, the catchy phrase Lock It or Lose It. Many will simply look at the victims as being an unfortunate victim of their own laziness thinking anyone who failed to lock their car or left valuables out in plain sight deserved to become a victim. Heck, what concern is it to me?...Looking At The Cost of Crime
LakelandPD gave a presentation this morning to the City Commission regarding the cost of crime, specifically the business cost to crime calls and the amount of resources needed to investigate reported crime. Titled "Looking At the Cost of Crime", our message was how we can lower our business costs, particularly in the area of burglaries, if the public would just practice some...Traffic Safety and Protest Marches
We want to let the public know about plans to close a portion of South Florida Avenue on Sunday afternoon as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers prepares to conduct a protest march in the road between Southgate and Munn Park that afternoon. Northbound traffic will be diverted from the roadway starting around 2:00 PM on Sunday and lasting until 4:00 PM or so as the protesters make...Apply for 2010 Citizens Police Academy
We are now accepting applications for the 2010 Citizens Police Academy that starts on August 19 and graduates November 18. This year's academy will be on Thursday evenings from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the police station. Visit our CPA website for more information. To apply, complete a 2010 CPA application and mail it to the address listed on the application. Class size is limited...And the Winner Is…
LakelandPD celebrated the exceptional service of our members in 2009 during our annual awards presentation last night. Recognized for their actions included members receiving Meritorious Service Awards and Lifesaving Awards, as well as naming the Officer of the Year, Detective of the Year, and Civilian of the Year. Officer of the Year went to Officer Mark Eby for his courage during an...2009 Crime in Lakeland
The 2009 Report on Crime in Lakeland, containing our final 2009 UCR data, is now released to the public. Overall crime in Lakeland declined by 4.5% in 2009 compared to 2008. Violent crime was down 7.8% and all property crime declined by 4.1%. Every category except burglary either decreased or remained the same from the previous year. Burglary rose by 21% in 2009. The next logical...“Don’t You Have Something Be...
I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if I had something better to do than what I was doing at the moment. Such was the situation with a letter we received this week asking if we had better things to do than issue parking tickets at Peterson Park for vehicles parking directly under NO PARKING signs. Hmmm, let me think about this one for a moment... As a matter of fact,...Working Together to Solve Neighborhood P...
One of the key elements to our community policing and problem-solving philosophy is to work in a collaborative manner with neighborhoods and other stakeholders to solve issues that give rise to crime and other quality of life concerns. It's all about building partnerships. We met yesterday with leaders from the Webster Park Neighborhood to develop strategies to address a recurring...LakelandPD PIO Jack Gillen Retires
He was the face and voice of LakelandPD for 15 years, a constant presence in the local media for many years as he told the public about tragedy after tragedy with a calm, reassuring demeanor. This stellar career and years of dedicated service to the Lakeland community ended Friday when our Public Information Officer Jack Gillen retired. Jack was more than our PIO, though that was his...Funeral Arrangements for Officer Charlie...
Funeral arrangements for Officer Charlie Dallas are posted on our website. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have further questions I can answer. - Asst Chief Bill LePereCommunity Support for Officer Dallas
On behalf of the Dallas family and the members of the Lakeland Police Department, let me offer a word of thanks to the community for your support during our grieving over the death of Officer Charlie Dallas. The photo below was from the McDonalds at Socrum Loop and Walt Loop Road. We have also received numerous condolence messages via our website. Words generally come to me...INSIDE LakelandPD – A Top Ten Blog
Our INSIDE LakelandPD blog was recently listed as one of the top ten police blogs by CareersinCriminalJustice.com. While that ranking was partially the result of how our blog comes up during keyword searches, it is nice to receive such recognition from the criminal justice profession for the content, open dialog, and flow of information that is the basis for our entire blogging...Tweeting DUI Arrests – Good or Bad...
While reviewing my Google news alerts this morning, I came across a blog posting that reported how DUI arrests in Mongtomery County, Texas will be posted on Twitter during the period between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. If you are curious like I was and wondered where that county is located in the great state of Texas, think just north of Houston (which is in Harris County) and...‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
And so on this night before Christmas 2009, I want to pause and give a special thanks to the many public safety workers who are on-duty this evening rather than at home with their families. These professionals, officers and dispatchers alike, are tending to business as usual, answering the calls for help that invariably will come into the 911 Center and then get routed to officers in...From the Publisher, Marialice Quinn
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