INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Lakeland Police Seek Public Help with Recent Copper Wire Thefts

The Lakeland Police Department is seeking information regarding the theft of copper wire from City of Lakeland Electric substations. These substations are situated at various locations within and outside the city limits. Most of these thefts occur during the night. The amount of copper wire stolen indicates that a vehicle must be used to transport the stolen wire.

The public is being asked to report anything suspicious occurring at these electric substations. Don't assume that subjects seen on property at these locations are authorized to be be there. If anyone sees anything suspicious or observes persons on these properties, please report this information to the Lakeland Police Department at (863) 834-6900 or the Crime Stoppers number below.

Anyone with information regarding these thefts who wants to remain anonymous and be eligible for a $500 cash reward is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS. Anonymity is guaranteed!

www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Polk County Police Chiefs Honor Two Lakeland Police Officers

The Polk County Police Chiefs Association recognized two Lakeland Police officers during an awards ceremony Thursday night in Lakeland. It is with a tremendous sense of pride we also publicly recognize these officers at this time.

Officer Michael Cardin was awarded PCPCA Police Officer of the Year for his rescue of a person trapped in an overturned and burning vehicle at a traffic crash scene. Upon being the first rescuer to arrive at the crash scene and with no regard for his own personal safety, Officer Cardin entered the burning vehicle and dragged the victim to safety. The victim was treated at the hospital and survived.

Sergeant Chad Mumbauer was awarded Honorable Mention for his lifesaving efforts with a person who was choking on food. Though off-duty at the time, Sergeant Mumbauer was able to take over rescue efforts from bystanders and perform abdominal thrusts that successfully dislodged the object blocking the victim's airway. The victim survived in this event as well.

Sgt. Mumbauer, Chief Boatner, and Ofc. Cardin

A police officer never knows when their training will become the difference between life and death for someone. We are extremely proud of these two heroes who responded when their skills were so desperately needed by a stranger. Congratulations Chad and Michael!

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

"Brother Can You Spare Me a Dime" - Policing Panhandlers in Lakeland

A recent Letter to the Editor in The Ledger addressed a problem with panhandlers on East Memorial Boulevard. Such nuisances create a lower quality of life in our community, for who wants to be accosted by these individuals when we are taking our families out for dinner.

I experienced this problem first hand myself while dining downtown several months ago. An individual who obviously just arrived in town via the most recent freight train or bus approached my wife and I looking for a handout. I promptly and assertively told him to leave us alone as such activity was not permitted in town. He then turned to another table just a few feet away where a repeat performance of his plea for assistance produced a $20 bill from the diner's wallet.

Asking for assistance is not a crime, but aggressive panhandling is a violation of a City Ordinance. We do respond to calls for service of this nature along East Memorial Boulevard when merchants request our assistance. We rely on getting calls from the public when panhandlers become aggressive or when merchants want an individual removed from their property. Our limited resources simply do not permit us to maintain a heavy presence in the area in hopes of preventing such incidents.

So how can we prevent future acts of aggressive panhandling? Let's start by understanding human nature. Panhandlers go where they know they can get a quick buck or two. It is a bit like hunting or fishing - you go where you have the greatest chance of succeeding. What is needed is for people to realize that your "gracious" act of giving money to someone who is panhandling is actually perpetuating the problem rather than making things better.

Stop giving money and the panhandlers move on.

The other aspect of this problem is linked to something we have blogged about repeatedly - how we deal with the homeless problem in Lakeland.

Many of the panhandlers on Memorial Boulevard are looking for places to sleep, food from restaurant dumpsters, and opportunities to beg for money. Our community simply does not have enough social services providers to meet the needs of the many homeless individuals who travel to Lakeland because we are known across the country for being so generous to anyone coming into town looking for a handout.

Problems such as homelessness and aggressive panhandling expose the deep social ills that we routinely expect to be solved with a quick call to the police. We will not arrest our way out of this problem - we need to continue as a community to find ways to deal with homelessness and the related problems of aggressive panhandling.

Something to think about the next time you see someone giving money to a panhandler...

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Conduct Refresher Training in Homeland Security Operations

No, it's not the latest version of police uniforms being considered by Lakeland Police officers in the photo to the left here. And it is not an invasion of aliens, though people do sometimes look at us like we are from another universe.

Rather, these photos are from recent in-service training sessions where our officers donned protective suits that are to be worn in the event of some type of chemical or biological hazard requiring full-body protection.

The masks and suits are intended to be worn by officers on security perimeters of incidents related to homeland security threats. These threats may not come from terrorist activity. The most common use for the protective suits will be chemical spills or perhaps an incident involving a biological threat.

In any event, the training sessions gave our officers the opportunity to suit up and see what a challenge it would be to do their jobs in the hot Florida sun while completely encased in a protective suit.

Lakeland PD continues to offer specialized training in homeland security operations and required NIMS training (the National Incident Management System) as established by FEMA.

We hope the need for using these suits never comes our way. (They are hot, in case you were wondering. I know because I suited up myself one day.) But if the need arises, our officers are prepared and ready to respond.

      

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Present "Do the Right Thing" Awards for December 2007

The Lakeland Police Department honored five local students during a quarterly "Do the Right Thing" awards ceremony at the police station this week.

Students were recognized for exceptional acts of character, positive citizenship, and expectional ethical behavior in situations where it would be just as easy to look the other way and not get involved.

Mr. Otis Anthony, Senior Director of Minority Relations with the Polk County School Board, was the keynote speaker for the ceremony.

Here's a listing of the students receiving DTRT awards this month.

Luv Allen - is a 6th grader at Blake Academy. During October, a student brought a gun onto the campus of Blake Academy. Many students were aware the gun was on campus, but no one reported it. Luv saw the gun in the student's backpack and told a teacher what she had observed. For doing the right thing in this situation with potentially dangerous consequences, Luv Allen was the overall DTRT winner for December!

Tariq Cowart and Wayde McClanahan - are 3rd graders at Dixieland Elementary School. Wayde witnessed a bicycle belonging to a school patrol student being stolen from the school. He attempted to intervene and prevent the theft, but the student continued away with the bicycle. Wayde and Tariq chased after the culprit to Dobbins Park where the student dropped the bicycle and fled on foot. Wayde and Tariq returned the bicycle to the school and notified the administrative office of the theft. Congratulations guys for getting involved and preventing someone else from losing their bicycle!

Joan Perez - is a 7th grader at Southwest Middle School. She observed a crumpled up piece of paper at school and took the time to check out what she thought was suspicious. Inside the paper was a $100 bill. Knowing the money did not belong to her, Joan turned the money into the front office. While it would have been easy to keep the money, Joan did the right thing in hopes of returning the money to the rightful owner. Thank you Joan for doing the right thing here!

Ryne Watkins - is a 5th grader at Southwest Elementary School. During the 06-07 school year, Ryne became a driving force behind a program at Southwest to collect pennies from the community to purchase soft-body armor for a police K-9 in Polk County. He gave up birthday money, collected change from family, friends, and neighbors and even asked businesses near his home to put out change jars to gather support from the community. His donations inspired other students to do their best in the project. Thank you Ryne for being so thoughtful and caring to help protect a police K-9!

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Citizens Getting Involved: Part I

The Lakeland Police Department visited the offices of Thorpe Heating and Cooling Tuesday morning to thank three employees of that company for their recent citizen involvement as witnesses to a hit and run accident.

Employees Larry Arthur, Danny Newman, and Eric Powell recently witnessed a hit and run accident on US 98 North, which resulted in minor injuries and severe damage to a victim's car. The suspect fled the scene in his vehicle with the witnesses following him to the Home Depot where he abandoned his truck and ran. The witnesses gave chase on foot and detained the suspect until officers arrived.

We are fortunate to have people like these gentlemen who believe in doing the right thing. For their willingness to get involved when it was just as easy to look the other way and do nothing to help an innocent victim, the Lakeland Police Department presented Citizen Recognition Awards to Larry, Danny, and Eric today with our sincere thanks for making a difference in our community. Congratulations and thanks again guys!

Chief Roger Boatner and Traffic Sergeant Mike Moran thank Eric Powell, Danny Newman, and Larry Arthur of Thorpe Heating and Cooling

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland's 27th Annual Snowfest 2007

Lakeland Parks and Recreation presents the 27th annual Snowfest this Saturday, December 8, 2007, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Lake Mirror Park. A new snow slide will be available this year, along with a snow mountain, children's entertainment, food vendors, and arts & crafts vendors. In other words, lots of fun for the family!

This holiday tradition is sponsored by Central Florida Eurocars and City of Lakeland Parks and Recreation. Hope to see you there.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland Police Prepare for CALEA Reaccreditation: Input from the Public is Welcomed

The Lakeland Police Department is scheduled for an on-site assessment as part of a program to achieve CALEA re-accreditation by verifying it meets professional standards. This onsite will take place starting on December 9th and concluding on December 12th. The onsite will include a static display on Sunday morning followed by tour of the Department. At any time during the onsite, the assessors may ask to speak with or ride along with members of the Department as part of the assessment process.

As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session Monday, December 10, 2007, at 7:00 PM. The session will be conducted in the LPD Community Room located at 219 North Massachusetts Avenue, Lakeland, Florida.

Agency employees and the public are also invited to offer comments by calling (863) 834-8996 on Monday, December 10th between the hours of 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. Comments will be taken by the Assessment Team.

Telephone comments as well as appearances at the public information session are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. A copy of the standards is available at the Department’s Accreditation Office. For more information please contact the Department’s Accreditation Manager, Detective Stephen Bucklin, at 834-8907.

Anyone wishing to submit written comments about the Lakeland Police Department’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation may send them to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) 10302 Eaton Place, Suite 100, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030-2215.

- Det. Steve Bucklin, Accreditation Manager

Lakeland Police to Discuss Rooming House on Vistabula Street

Representatives from Lakeland PD will be at the November meeting of the Lake Morton Neighborhood Association next Monday, November 26, 2007, at 7:00 PM to discuss issues surrounding a rooming house at 822 Vistabula Street. The meeting will be held at the Lake Morton Public Library.

The focus of this meeting will be a rooming house in the neighborhood on Vistabula Street which is generating a disproportionate amount of police calls for service, including disturbances and noise complaints. Police officers and representatives from Lakeland's Community Development will be on hand to answer questions from the public and explain the rights of the home's owners and residents as well as the rights of those who live in the area.

We encourage residents within the Lake Morton neighborhood to attend the meeting. Hope to see you there next Monday.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere

Final Results from 2007 SWAT Round-Up

From our SWAT officers who participated in the 2007 Round-Up comes word of the final standings from last week's competition. Lakeland PD's Blue team took third place in the final competitive event on the Friday - the Obstacle Course - and finished 14th overall. The LPD Red team finished 31st overall, out of a total of 67 teams. Final results have not yet been posed on the SRI web site as of this morning.

Congratulations to the Orange County (FL) Sheriff's Office "Stripes" team that won the overall top team title.

Whether we win, lose, or draw, the competitive spirit and dogged determination of our SWAT officers to succeed is worth special recognition. These officers train hard throughout the year to remain in top physical condition and are constantly prepared to respond to the most dangerous of tactical situations. Their ability to bring overwhelming force to a situation and then peacefully resolve the confrontation, to include our Hostage Negotiation Team, is something in which all of Lakeland should take pride.

Our thanks to the SWAT officers for representing Lakeland again this year.

- Asst Chief Bill LePere