INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Lakeland Crime Down in 2008

We completed our annual Uniform Crime Report for 2008 and are pleased to report overall crime was down 3% from the previous year AND both violent crimes and property crimes declined as well.

Violent crime decreased by 11% last year and property crime was down just over 2%. These are significant results during our current economic challenges.

To anyone who was a victim of a crime last year, it was a bad year. The numbers show 6.17 people out of 100 residents were victimized last year, according to the crime numbers compared to our population. That figure is down from 6.39 the year before. Just over five people out of 100 were the victim of a property crime and less than one out of 100 was the victim of a violent crime. We think those numbers are pretty good overall.

While the overall news is good, we analyzed the data in great detail to develop a deep understanding of crime trends. Homicides increased from 6 to 10 in 2008. We also had a spike in violent crime late in the year where a gun was the weapon used to commit the offense. That resulted in a 9% increase in gun-related violence. Suffice to say we are getting aggressive in dealing with this violent crime trend, and results for 2009 are looking promising so far in the new year.

So what caused the drop in crime? That is always a question we get asked by the media and the community during neighborhood meetings. It is difficult to point to a single cause for the reduction just as it is a challenge to point out a single reason when crime is up. Here are some thoughts though that may explain the drop in overall property and violent crime.

• The community takes credit first and foremost for doing their part to keep our overall quality of life high. This has a direct impact on the environmental conditions that give rise to crime in the first place.
• Weekly crime meetings and daily crime briefings give us the opportunity to analyze crime trends in real time. This emphasis on identifying hot spots and then deploying resources quickly to deal with these locations has proven to be an effective strategy.
• A drop in the value of recycled metal, such as copper, makes stealing this commodity a less lucrative endeavor now. We saw a marked reduction in the theft of copper when its value dropped.

Crime is a social phenomenon that occurs for many reasons. It is the challenge of a free society to create a community where environmental conditions and the overall quality of life help prevent crime from occurring in the first place. The police also need to be ready to respond whenever a crime occurs. We view our responsibility to not only respond to and investigate crime after it occurs but to also help prevent crime from happening in the first place.

Working together, Lakeland had a pretty good year last year.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Update on Red Light Cameras

We continue to move forward with the red light camera project for Lakeland. Installation of the cameras is just around the corner, and so an update report is probably in order at this time.

The cameras are expected to go live on June 1, 2009. Enforcement will begin at that point. An educational campaign to inform drivers of the cameras' locations is scheduled to kick off in April and May. We want drivers to know about the cameras in the hope that no violations will occur! (Of course we are realistic about this and expect to issue a large number of violation notices at the beginning.)

After much research into which intersections need the cameras and considering installation challenges at each location, cameras will be located at the following intersections:

- Northbound Socrum Loop Road @ E. Daughtery Road/Walt Loop Road
- Westbound E. Daughtery Road/Walt Loop Road @ Socrum Loop Road
- Southbound Socrum Loop Road @ E. Daughtery Road/Walt Loop Road
- Northbound Socrum Loop Road @ Old Combee Road
- Southbound Socrum Loop Road @ Old Combee Road
- Northbound N. Florida Avenue @ Memorial Blvd.
- Northbound S. Florida Avenue @ Beacon Road
- Northbound Cleveland Heights Blvd @ E. Edgewood Drive
- Southbound Cleveland Heights Blvd @ E. Edgewood Drive

We will keep posting updates as the project moves toward implementation with our goal still to save lives by reducing red light running in our community.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

LHS Seat Belt Enforcement Update

No one could have predicted the unplanned impact at the start of this morning's seat belt initiative at Lakeland High School. As TV crews were setting up to broadcast live from the scene, a traffic crash occurred on Bartow Hwy at the entrance to LHS. A student coming to school made a left turn in front of oncoming traffic and collided with another car, which had the right of way.

Once things settled down a bit, a total of 34 traffic citations were issued by LPD officers, with 30 of those for seat belt violations.

Now you may ask if 30 seat belt violations is good or bad - and I will tell you it depends. We issued a higher number of citations during some previous initiatives, so perhaps the educational efforts to buckle up are working. On the other hand, even one violation is one too many. Our goal was to write zero citations, but no such luck today.

And the real irony of the day - the young driver who caused this morning's crash...well he wasn't wearing his seat belt at the time either.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Seat Belt Enforcement at Lakeland High School

In case you missed the announcement yesterday on our media release blog, the Lakeland Police Department is planning a "Seat Belt Initiative" at Lakeland High School on Friday, February 13, 2009, from 6:30 AM - 8:00 AM. The school is located at 726 Lake Hollingsworth Road.

The initiative includes advance educational efforts to inform students of the dangers associated with not wearing a seat belt and the requirement of Florida law for drivers and passengers to be properly restrained. The educational campaign is then followed by an enforcement effort to catch violators who refuse to wear a seat belt. We expect several media outlets will be at the school Friday morning to observe the operation.

Many young lives are lost each year during traffic crashes where drivers and passengers were not wearing proper seat belts. Our goal is to save lives through education first and enforcement second.

Save a life - buckle up every time you drive or ride in a car.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

The Dangers of Prescription Drugs

If someone told you your child was in danger, would you drop everything to help? If you knew there was a devastating epidemic in our middle and high schools, would you listen? Would you be surprised if drugs and alcohol were costing businesses millions of dollars locally?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to attend an upcoming presentation by the Drug Prevention Resource Center on Thursday, February 26, 2009, at 7:00 PM in the Lakeland High School Cafeteria. DPRC is bringing back a nationally-known speaker, Mr. Robert Stutman, who will explain the dangers of prescription drugs in our homes.

Mr. Stutman is a former DEA Special Agent and is recognized as an expert on how easy it is for our youth to access dangerous prescription medication in our homes. You can RSVP or get more information via the website www.rxforlakeland.com or e-mail for help at help@rxforlakeland.com. We encourage everyone to consider attending this informative program.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Understanding Crime: The Impact of Victim Behavior

Every morning when I come to work there awaits for me a daily report of significant crimes from the day before. This report gives us a synopsis of these crimes, which in turn allows our commanders to focus resources on emerging hot spots.

This morning's report contained an entry that caught my eye. I thought it might be of some interest to the public because it further illustrates the impact of a crime victim's behavior on their victimization. My edits for clarity are in parentheses.

"On 02/02/09 at 1935 hours (7:35 PM), victim reported he was inside an unknown room (of a local motel) buying crack (cocaine) for the second time in the day when the 2 B/M occupants battered him and stole $60."

Further investigation revealed the victim was robbed of his money when he pulled out his wallet to purchase the cocaine and the two suspects noticed he had a considerable amount of money. They battered him numerous times, possible with a baseball bat, before taking his money.

Every victim deserves our best investigative efforts to solve their crime. And while it can be argued this victim needs some type of drug counseling or rehabilitation, we have to ask how many resources should be allocated to this case when the victim put himself in the position to be robbed?

While the public can get the false perception of high crime rates if you just look at raw numbers, we believe it is important to dig deeper and understand the root causes of crime, such as this case where the victim bears a tremendous responsibility for being victimized in the first place. We will forever carry this UCR crime statistic as a personal robbery regardless of the victim's own criminal behavior in the first place. 

In these tight budget times with too few resources at our disposal, our detective bureau will prioritize the crimes based on a variety of solvability factors and do what we can to clear our cases. I just wish we could not claim this crime stat because of irresponsible behavior by the "victim."

Welcome to the deeper reality of crime.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere 

Knights of Columbus Officer of the Year

The Knights of Columbus sponsored their annual Public Safety Awards dinner this past weekend, giving recognition and honors to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel who have performed either heroic acts or exceptional service above the call of duty.

Lakeland Police Officer Sean Finney received the Lakeland Police Officer of the Year Award from the Knights of Columbus for his efforts to make over 1,000 DUI arrests while assigned to the DUI Enforcement Unit.

Officer Finney receiving his award 

While Officer Finney is to be commended for the quality cases he makes, it is worth noting that he goes far beyond the day to day work of arresting impaired drivers. In addition to being a certified Drug Recognition Expert, he is a peer leader in the DUI Unit who serves as a trainer to ensure new DUI officers receiving the initial training required of this difficult and challenging assignment. He continually receives annual recognition by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his efforts.

We congratulate Officer Finney on receiving this award and thank him for his unwavering commitment to removing impaired drivers from our roadways. It is impossible to calculate how many lives he has saved by his tireless efforts to keep Lakeland safe.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere