INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Update on Seatbelt Enforcement

In case you noticed extra officers along Florida Avenue in the Downtown or Dixieland areas yesterday, you observed our seatbelt enforcement initiative underway. Officers focused their enforcement efforts at Main Street and Florida Avenue from 7:30 - 9:00 AM and at South Florida Avenue and Cresap Street from 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM.

A total of 83 citations were issued during these times. Officers ticketed 68 drivers for not wearing their seatbelt, 5 passengers, and one driver received a citation for failure to have a child properly restrained.

Florida law recently changed permitting seatbelt enforcement to be a primary rather than secondary issue. Officers previously had to observe another violation before being able to stop a driver who was not wearing a seatbelt. Officers may now stop a driver upon observing someone not properly restrained by their seatbelt.

The Lakeland Police Department will continue to aggressively enforce the seatbelt law. We encourage drivers to wear the seatbelts at all times and require all passengers to do so in their car.

We are committed to the concept of "Click It or Ticket".

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Officer Discretion with Red Light Cameras

I realize that no amount of discussion or explanation on my part here is going to change the minds of individuals who refuse to see red light cameras (RLC) as anything more than government technology intruding into their daily lives. I respect their opinions, though we will forever disagree I guess.

However, a recent comment here from "Rock" prompted me to offer a further explanation into how the RLC process works. He wrote:

 "This is not right cameras doing the work of the officers you are issued a ticket in the mail when an officer would of issued you a warning this is not right."

Officers are afforded tremendous discretion in their traffic enforcement activities. Having been there myself, we use a bit of common sense, a dose of compassion (really, we do), and the importance of enforcement to modify bad driver behavior when deciding whether to issue a traffic citation or a warning.

While it is true that an RLC does not afford the driver the opportunity to offer an explanation in person as to why they ran that red light (sometimes the reasons can be very creative and entertaining, but that's another post for another day), police officers who review the violations do employ discretion when deciding whether to issue a Notice of Violation or excuse the incident. In situations where it is a close call, the driver will more often than not be excused.

The vast majority of RLC events we have reviewed are clear cut violations of the law. Whether an officer was there to issue the driver a traffic citation in person or give a Notice of Violation via the mail, a citation/fine is warranted.

And if you are looking for a financial advantage to receiving an RLC violation, that will only cost you $125 versus a nearly $200 traffic ticket and points on your drivers license.

Something to think about...

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

June UCR Crime Data Available

The June 2009 Uniform Crime report data has been released and is now available here as well as on our website. Overall all Part I year-to-date crime in 2009 is down 3.4% compared to last year. Property crime is down 4.9%, while violent crime is up 12.9%.

-Asst Chief Bill LePere

Crime - A Small Part of Our Workload

One of the blogs we follow everyday is The Chief's Corner from Chief Tom Casady at the Lincoln (NE) Police Department. Chief Casady is a really sharp individual with a keen interest in crime analysis, crime data, and community policing.

In a recent blog posting, he noted how crime in his community accounted for approximately 8.9% of Lincoln PD's overall workload. Does that seem unusual to you?

In reality, that percentage is right on target for many police agencies. Our numbers in Lakeland indicated UCR Part I Crime (homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft) accounted for a little over 6% of our total workload last year.

You may wonder how that can be?

The vast array of calls for service we get on a daily basis only include reports of Part I crime a small portion of the time. Traffic crash calls, disturbances, various police services like checking on someone's welfare or false alarm calls, directed patrols, and traffic enforcement comprise a big part of our total workload. While it's true that preventing crime and investigating reported crime is our primary mission, there is so much more to what we do everyday.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland PAL Runners Qualify for National AAU Meet

Catching up on some bits of news from around LPD and wanted to share the good news from our PAL program. Four of our young runners from the PAL track team qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics next month in Iowa!

You can read the online article from The Ledger here.

PAL's vision is to fill playgrounds rather than prisons by providing athletic and educational opportunities for youth to enjoy. The staff of PAL, including a large number of volunteers from the community, are responsible for the program's success by ensuring our youth have a diverse array of sports programs and educational tutoring to help them succeed in life. We are grateful for the many volunteer hours provided by the community.

Congratulations to the runners and good luck with your upcoming track meet.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

School Resource Unit Annual Golf Classic

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you participate in the Lakeland Police Department's annual School Resource Unit Golf Classic. The event will be held at Grasslands Golf & Country Club on Friday, August 7, 2009. Registration is from 7:30 - 8:15 AM, with a shotgun start at 8:30 AM.

A buffet luncheon will be served following play. Awards for first place gross, first, second, and third net teams, closest to the pin and longest drive will be awarded.

Funds raised from this golf event go directly to help support our "Do The Right Thing" program, which is designed to honor children in our community who distinguish themselves through their accomplishments, attitude, or outstanding efforts.

Sponsorships are also still available should your company or organization want to make a donation in that manner. More information regarding sponsorships can be found in the attached golf brochure.

To register or for more information, contact by phone or e-mail:

Officer Wayne Skinner at 863-397-4377

Officer Jimmy Mock at 863-221-7331

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Incredible Criminal Excuses

Over on our Twitter side yesterday I retweeted a tweet from Boynton Beach Police Department regarding a news article about a criminal with an outrageous excuse for why he possessed some cocaine powder - he claimed it was flour for his pork chops.

That got me thinking about some of the most incredible excuses I have encountered during my career so far. Two stand out as the best I've heard.

During my time as a vice and narcotics detective many years ago, we would occasionally conduct surveillance in the Munn Park area for lewd activity. This was years before downtown was redeveloped to the wonderful area it is today. One night we observed two subjects engaged in open lewd conduct in the park and moved in to make arrests. Upon getting the subjects separated and up from the ground to handcuff them, one of them commented "Officer, I just want you to know I had nothing to do with this."

Really? Then please tell me who is responsible for what you were just doing on your knees in public view if you had nothing to do with it. He went to jail that night.

The second favorite event was also during my time in vice and narcotics. We were executing a drug search warrant at a residence when a subject came up to the house to buy drugs. We identified ourselves as police officers and upon searching the subject located a small piece of crack cocaine in his pants pocket. The subject uttered, "Officer, these aren't my pants."

Really? I completely understand. I often make the mistake of putting on someone else's clothes in the morning, too. It all makes perfect sense now that you explained the pants thing to me.

That guy went to jail that night, too.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere