INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

2007 Teddy Bear Parade

The annual invasion of the teddy bears occurred yesterday when over 200 soft, cuddly bears made their way to the police station. As part of a national community service project, Kappa Delta sorority from Florida Southern College and the local Girl Scouts council joined forces once again to donate teddy bears to the Lakeland Police Department.

These bears are used by patrol officers and victim advocates to comfort children who are frightened or traumatized by some unfortunate accident or criminal event. The bears are given to the children as a way to ease their fears and help them cope with the situation at hand. It is very gratifying to see the frown or tears of a scared child turn into a smile when they receive a bear.

Our sincere thanks to Kappa Delta and the Girl Scouts for making their annual trip to the police station. Below are some pictures from the invasion.

For more information on our victim advocacy program click here

                              

                                                                                             

Welcome Senior Chaplain Ingrassia

The Lakeland Police Department is pleased to announce the recent selection of Retired Lieutenant John Ingrassia to serve as the Department's Senior Chaplain. Chaplain Ingrassia replaces Chaplain Vince Shannon who passed away November 13, 2006.

Police Chaplains serve the spiritual needs of Department members as well as the community. They provide support for police members who deal with the emotional stress associated with witnessing horrific tragedies, and they comfort the public during traumatic times. We rely on the chaplains to assist with the painful duties of delivering death notifications and helping survivors through the grieving process.

Chaplain Ingrassia served as a Police Officer with the Lakeland Police Department from May 1975 until his retirement in December 2002. During his many years of service to the community, Chaplain Ingrassia's assignments included patrol officer, motorcycle officer, auto theft detective. His promotions to Sergeant and Lieutenant led to service in the Operational Review Section, General Services Section, and Patrol Division.

As a Department member he was requested to assist in the development of the current Chaplaincy Program at the Lakeland Police Department. It was through the efforts of Chaplain Ingrassia and other members of the Board that the Chaplaincy Board and the Senior Chaplain position came to fruition. Chaplain Ingrassia served as a Board member, Board President and Vice-President for a number of years; prior to and after his retirement from the Lakeland Police Department.

Chaplain Ingrassia is an ordained minister of the 1^st Alliance Church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, where he has been a faithful member for 33 years. He has been active in ministry, in various capacities, through his church for an equal number of years. He has demonstrated through his commitment and dedication a desire to serve the members of the Lakeland Police Department and the citizens of the City of Lakeland. Chaplain Ingrassia is supported in this assignment by equally committed and dedicated chaplains and his wife of 32 years, Letia. Chaplain Ingrassia is the third Senior Chaplain of the Department, preceded by Senior Chaplains Bob Byers and Vince Shannon.

We welcome Senior Chaplain Ingrassia to his new position.

Intro to Inside the Lakeland Police Department

Welcome to the launch of InsideLakelandPD - our journey into the world of web logs, and your gateway into the Lakeland Police Department.

The obvious question to ask at this point is - why would a police department host a blog?

The answer is quite simple. Our community policing philosophy is committed to an open and transparent relationship with our community. We believe in the notion that we are the community's police department, and as such we remain open to the public so that you may learn more about what we do. Capturing the technology of the Internet and blogging is an innovative way for us to maintain open lines of communication with our customers.

We have been planning this blog for several months, conducting research into how other police agencies use blogging, and exploring how this mode of communication can enhance our relationship with the community. Our research suggests that blogging is relatively new to the world of policing with few agencies using this technology today. More importantly, we found our customers to be genuinely interested in what goes on at LPD, what we are doing to reduce crime and disorder, how we strive to reduce fear - and people truly want to see our members as real people.

What happens behind the scenes at the Lakeland Police Department and the people who make our agency successful are interesting stories but not always newsworthy. We enjoy a positive relationship with all of our local media, but we do not rely on the electronic or print media to tell our complete story. This is where our blog becomes a gateway - your gateway - into Lakeland PD.

Our goal is to share a glimpse behind the scenes and let you know what is going on at your police department. The blog will be a forum for us to release news stories, highlight crime prevention tips, educate the public on crime trends and important safety information, introduce you to members of our organization, and in general keep the public informed on your police department. In doing so, we will be open to comments, feedback, and criticism. Comments and feedback to the blog will be moderated to avoid profane, vulgar, or slanderous material from being posted, but we remain open to suggestions from the public that will help shape the level and quality of service we provide each and every day.

As the Chief of Police, I am extremely proud of the dedication and professionalism our members bring to our organization on a daily basis. They are the heroes of our community and deserve some positive recognition. I thank them for their commitment to Lakeland, and I trust you share this sentiment. We hope you get to learn more about them and their efforts through this forum.

Welcome to InsideLakelandPD.

Roger Boatner

Chief of Police