INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Weekly Crime Map for July 21st to July 27th

Here is the weekly crime map of significant events for the period of Crime Map – 07/21 to 07/28.

- Sergeant Terri Smith

Stupid Drivers in Lakeland

I was sitting at my desk this morning reviewing crime reports and listening to the police radio with one ear when I heard officers dispatched to BOLO (be on lookout) for a vehicle driven by a lady with an 80-pound dog in her lap. The caller said the driver was not operating the vehicle safely and felt the police needed to know about this matter.

Yep, that's how we were given the information, and we are grateful to the caller for letting us know about this hazard. As fate would have it, we were not able to locate the vehicle and have not received any crash reports today involving a driver with a slightly over-sized lap dog being listed as a contributing factor.

Now there may be a logical reason why this large dog was in the driver's lap in the first place. Perhaps the dog was injured and the driver was providing first aid while driving to the vet's office, or perhaps the dog did not travel well without snuggling up next to it's owner. Doggie anxiety in a moving vehicle is not a pretty sight.

But nonetheless, we do not consider it to be a safe driving habit to have any dog in your lap while operating a motor vehicle. A little common sense goes a long way to reducing traffic crashes in our community.

It's a shame there is not a test for common sense when you apply for your drivers license.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Release June 2008 UCR Report

The June 2008 Uniform Crime Report figures are now available online.

Preliminary figures show overall crime is down 10.8%, violent crime is down 30.5%, and property crime is down 8.3% year to date compared with last year.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

The Softer Side of Police Work - Lakeland Police Rescue Endangered Kittens

The story from yesterday explaining how Public Safety Aide Heidi Pitts rescued four little kittens is a heartwarming account of the work we do that is not related to crime fighting.

Our jobs often included services far from the field of crime, and this story is just one of many frequent accounts of our members serving the community in a variety of ways.

I asked my wife if we could keep one of the kittens, but she wisely reminded me that our three cats are more than enough. Hopefully someone will come forward and contact the SPCA in Lakeland to adopt these cute little critters.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Weekly Crime Map for July 14th to July 20th

Here is the weekly crime map of significant events for the period of Crime Map – 07/14 to 07/20.

- Sergeant Terri Smith

Weekly Crime Report for July 7 - 13, 2008

Here are the weekly crime reports for the period of July 7 - 13, 2008.

Weekly crime report for July 7 - 13.pdf

Weekly TAC/CompStat crime trend report for July 7 - 13.pdf

Areas of Concentration

Residential burglaries have slowed down in the south region during this reporting period. We are still conducting extra patrols with additional resources as we are not sure if the suspects have been arrested or remain out and about.

Vehicle burglaries increased sharply on both sides of the city. These crimes were being reported all over the city making it difficult to focus our efforts in any one specific area. We continue to urge drivers to lock your vehicles and keep valuable out of sight as over half of all vehicle burglaries are to unsecured cars and trucks.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Annual Golf Classic Aug 1st

The Lakeland Police Department's Annual Golf Classic to benefit juvenile programs of the School Resource Unit is scheduled for Friday, August 1, 2008, at The Club at Eaglebrooke. Registration that morning runs from 7:30 AM - 8:15 AM with a shotgun start at 8:30 AM.

The cost for individual play is $110.00 per player or $440.00 per team. Other corporate donation programs are available as well.

To register or for more information, please contact:

Officer Wayne Skinner 863-397-4377 or wayne.skinner@polk-fl.net

Officer Jimmy Mock 863-221-7331 or jimmy.mock@polk-fl.net

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Drivers Must Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalks

Here is an interesting story from the Associated Press and USA Today about an police enforcement initiative catching drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

I've often wondered what our results would be if Lakeland Police officers posed as pedestrians ~ would Lakeland drivers be courteous and yield to pedestrians as required by Florida law?

What do you think our results might show?

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Forensic Artist Featured on Channel 13

We previously highlighted the exceptional forensic artist work of one of our Public Safety Aides, Ms. Darlene Melius. Her artistic talents are simply phenomenal.

And just yesterday, Channel 13 - WTVT, featured some work PSA Melius is preparing to complete on a human skull found in Tampa Bay in hopes of providing investigators with a drawing of what the victim looked like.

We cannot say enough good things about the work PSA Melius offers to our community and now to the greater Tampa Bay area. Thanks Darlene for a job well done.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Weekly Crime Map for July 7th to July 13th

Here is the weekly crime map of significant events for the period of Crime Map – 07/07 to 07/13.

- Sergeant Terri Smith