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    To the members of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department:

July marked my three-years as a member of the FLPD Family - A time to reflect and take stock. This message has been written to convey to the men and women of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department a sense of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going from here. In the process it is hoped that some of the material will provide our friends and neighbors a better understanding of our accomplishments and challenges. Having been as successful as we have, future challenges are sure to be met appropriately.

Since my arrival on July 17, 1995, I have become increasingly proud of the professionalism and accomplishments of this agency. Before my arrival, I was not completely sure of the challenges ahead of me. I was aware of some significant issues that had troubled this organization. Some of which were detailed in a local editorial that both welcomed me, and then went on to tell me the "bad news". It called our department "one of the most problem-plagued and controversial police forces around", and quoted what a consultant had called the "contentious and disrespectful" relations between the union and city officials. It went on to say that the biggest challenge was our city crime rate - the highest of any large city in the U.S. in 1994.

Within a very short period, however, I came to recognize that this organization consisted of an outstanding group of dedicated and exceptional people. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the significant achievements that you have accomplished as we continue to strive to provide the highest level of professional services possible. I would appreciate that as each of you read this, you remind yourselves that we all make up the organization. It is an effort of sworn and non-sworn alike. All of us, working in concert with our residents, political leadership, businesses, associations, and other interested parties have reason to feel proud of where we have taken this organization. In short - thank you for your hard work!

Crime Reduction

The most important goal in the past few years has been to reduce the crime rate and, thereby, improve the quality of life for residents and visitors. Overall, Part I Crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report, has been reduced 27% from the 1994 level, nearly 19% for 1997 alone. Nationwide, the 1997 reduction was less than 4%, and only 7.5% from the 1994 level. Our 1997 reduction was the 3rd largest in the nation. As this is written, we have shown an additional 8% "year to date" reduction over 1997 figures. Each Bureau in this agency was directly responsible for the incredible efforts that resulted in this major achievement. The following elements all helped contribute to the reduction in crime:

Patrol initiated a progressive implementation of the Compstat process through which operational analysis and activities are more closely united to identify and respond to trends in a more appropriate and timely manner. Each district initiated a tactical patrol component to directly impact "hot spot" crime locations. This process derives its success from the responsibility and accountability it places on all of us.

FLPD surpassed all Broward county police agencies in targeting truant students to suppress juvenile crime. Because of this aggressive enforcement, the number of truant juveniles taken into custody during the first half of the 97/98 school year totaled approximately 400 elementary/middle/high school students. This surpasses the number of truant juveniles taken into custody during the entire 96/97 school year. Truancy enforcement, along with the newly implemented Teen Curfew Ordinance helped to reduce the opportunities for juveniles to commit crime.

As another effective resource to combat Part I crimes, the Department implemented a "Probation and Parole Services Ride Program." Fort Lauderdale Officers teamed up with Officers from Probation and Parole to evaluate the status of subjects currently on probation/parole. Whenever a violation occurred, the Probation Officers either arrested the subject or applied for an arrest warrant.

We were instrumental in state law revisions and bringing national attention to the problems involving the pawn industry. Our detectives closely monitor the shops to insure full and timely automated data recovery. Officers and detectives conduct pawn shop stings and target known burglars. Our efforts in cross checking of pawn records and house arrest records have led to 118 violations of probation.

Operation Right TRAC has tremendously affected the overall rate of stolen vehicles. So far, this year auto theft is down by 34%. The theft deterrent devices (clubs) and VIN etching programs are examples of cooperative efforts with our community to prevent crime from occurring. Additionally, the Combat Auto Theft (CAT) program continues to assist in the reduction of auto theft crime within our city. Through these activities and traditional policing methods, the Department accounted for 289 auto theft arrests and recovered 2,751 stolen cars. FLPD was the recipient of the 1997 Motor Vehicle Prevention Authority Prevention Award.

We all know that open-air markets are magnets for criminal activity and have a deleterious effect on the community. Our detectives have conducted an analytical study to identify and target the most violent drug organizations and open-air drug markets operating within the City.

Community Policing

Our Community Policing concept has been a major strategy to reduce criminal activity and reaches further into our partnership with our residents. We have taken great strides to improve and increase our initiatives into Community Policing.

We originally started our Community Policing Initiative (CPI) in 1995 with a total of 10 employees. We now have 46 employees in CPI related assignments. Each Patrol District has CPI officers available to work in concert with other Divisions of the Department. CPI expanded to include narcotics detection dogs, the Crime Analysis Unit (CAU), the Crime Prevention Unit, our officers involved in the Code Enforcement Teams, and the Federal Demonstration Grant. Among the CPI initiatives are:

• the summer COPJAM program for neighborhood youth at Stranahan HS and Sunrise Middle School
• bicycle registration program
• graffiti patrol plan
• youth crime watch in schools
• youth motivation program
• community walks
• coordinates the Citizens on Patrol (COPS) volunteers
• neighborhood cleanups
• "hot spots" campaign with SID
• targeting establishments for alcohol sales to minors
• prostitution action plans
• participation in combined action plans with Patrol and SID
• children ID fingerprinting programs

We were selected as one of only 29 sites nationally to be awarded a $500,000 federal grant, for a Community Policing Demonstration Center to develop and test strategies, as well as to instruct other agencies and community groups.

Customer Service & Community Involvement

Although the CPI is a major portion of our effort, the entire Department assists in spreading our Community Policing message. The people we serve have demonstrated time and again that they are willing and able to help us help them. Some of the best ideas for improving our services have come from the community. They also have demonstrated their support for your efforts. In the most recent independent citizen/resident satisfaction survey, the Department rated well. An impressive 87% of the respondents believe we are doing a positive job while also performing in a professional manner. This is up from 64% in the first survey conducted in 1996. As further evidence of this trend, Internal Affairs complaints and police related claims are also dropping.

The Citizen Review Board (CRB) affords our community the opportunity to oversee our disciplinary process. We are proud of the efforts to maintain a stable and professional organization. The opening of our complaint process in this manner demonstrates our commitment to fulfill the partnership with the community. We also continue to see a decline in the number of citizen complaints filed against employees.

As individuals we participate in various mentoring programs including SAILS, Juvenile Alternative Motivation (JAM), DARE, Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), the Harris Chapel Life Enrichment Center, and the Explorer/Law Enforcement of Tomorrow (LET) program.

The Training Division sponsors the Citizen Police Academy (CPA). The CPA volunteer program uses citizens that have graduated from our in-house academy to assist investigators in various functions. Personnel from the Special Investigations Division (SID) and CPI have developed a landlord and tenant training program.

Personnel throughout the Department accommodate and work over 100 annual special events in the City. In 1997 our Honor Guard participated in 35 functions. We continue to remain highly visible, projecting a professional demeanor at various local, state, and national events.

Service Enhancements

On May 27, 1998, we earned our Certificate of Accreditation from the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation. This certificate formally announces what we already knew, that we meet the standards of professionalism. Fort Lauderdale and Orlando are the only 2 large cities in Florida to have earned this distinction. While the process was time consuming, it did require yet another self analysis and policy review.

Recognizing the value of traffic enforcement on quality of life issues, as well as safety through accident reduction, we increased motor officer staffing. The reorganization of motor squads into Patrol Districts contributed to a better-integrated community policing strategy. These changes, along with a significant effort from patrol officers, resulted in a 134% increase of traffic citations since 1994. These efforts included regular "lane squeezes" to affect various violations from seat belts to DUI. We also relied on educational and informational resources such as the Electronic Speed Zone sign placement in neighborhoods to help reduce the overall vehicular accident rates citywide. In addition, we have been selected to be one of only two cities in the nation to participate in a Federal DUI enforcement grant.

The Public Safety Aide (PSA) program expanded from eight personnel to the current level of 42. Currently, they handle calls for service, which gives the patrol officer an increase of approximately 20 % to 27% more problem solving time.

We continue to recognize that our mission is to serve the community in an effective and efficient manner. Using the increased personnel, and through self-analysis, we adjusted the focus when necessary and sought grant funding to offset general fund expenses. Over the last several years, sworn management has decreased from 28 to the current level of 23. This graphically illustrates that 96% of our sworn resources are involved in the direct delivery of services, or in first line supervision.

Patrol officers continued to respond to over 200,000 calls for service while making over 19,000 arrests (+23% over 1994). They issued over 65,000 traffic citations (+134% over 1994). This effort was a major contribution in the significant reduction of Part I Crimes.

Our highly professional specialty units are well trained and equipped. The SWAT Team was involved in 31 assignments last year, including phased call outs, full call outs, high risk warrant service, interagency investigations/stakeouts, and dignitary protection. There have been no liability issues for at least the last 10 years as a result of SWAT operations. The Bomb Squad was involved in 56 call outs and 38 public demonstrations in 1997.

Canine (K-9) increased activity significantly. Searches increased by 21% and apprehensions by 62% while maintaining low bite ratios as a percentage of total activity. More impressively, the unit has had no "malbites". As with most of our specialty units, K-9 conducts its training, using the vast experience of their our own members. Canine developed a FDLE approved, 480-hour course for new K-9 officers.

As impressive as the above enhancements are, special recognition should be given to those administrative personnel often working behind the scenes to insure our more visible successes. The Recruiting Unit drafted a SOP manual and streamlined the hiring process to allow more rapid turnaround of eligible candidates, hiring over 60 new employees.

Because we operate the only municipal detention facility in this state, it affords us the ability to minimize the visibility of nuisance criminals that negatively affect the quality of life in our community. Additionally, inmate labor has provided over 70,000 hours of service in our compound and throughout the community annually. Regarding the Jail, we increased capacity, added fencing to the sallieport area for better security, and increased officer safety. Detention Officers continued working overtime during the past year to keep the facility operational, and also worked as transport units for the Shell Sea and Air Show. Our detention staff has completed the expansion project to increase the inmate population from 89 beds to 120 beds.

Investigations

We have been instrumental in working with the Nuisance Abatement process for the entire City. Our aggressive use of the Broward County process resulted in our abatement of more properties than any other jurisdiction locally and one of the highest in Florida. While the County's similar function had worked well for us before the court challenges, we acknowledged that our citizens deserve the most aggressive assistance possible in insuring that their issues are represented.

Our Investigative Services personnel are nationally recognized for their achievements, professionalism, and experience. In addition, our organizational history of acceptance of change and the willingness to accept new endeavors continues to impress me. Investigative personnel obtained the first ever conviction under Florida's new tough "Evelyn Gort Career Criminal Act" and the first ever conviction and sentencing under states new "Prisoner Release Re-Offender Act".

Our personnel are highly active, both professionally and statistically, in a number of joint ventures, including: the Metropolitan Organized Crime Intelligence Unit (MIU), the FBI's Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force, the North Broward Drug Enforcement Unit, the Domestic Interdiction Unit, and the Southeast Florida Regional Task Force. Detectives are also involved in many other major programs such as:

• Fugitive Apprehension Initiative - Proactive identification, location, and arrest of more than 1,000 wanted individuals residing or committing crimes in our city.
• Threat Abatement Group - Innovative approach to addressing crimes of domestic violence, stalking, and workplace violence. We gained both local and national recognition leading to grant funding for this project. Ours was one of only two such "TAG Teams" in the nation at the time it formed.
• Cold Case Homicide Project - Review of 175 open and unsolved homicide cases. This resulted in 42 cases being reopened and assigned to homicide detectives. Through aggressive reinvestigation and full application of new technology, such as DNA analysis, this project has resulted in eight cases cleared.
• Sex Predators - Close monitoring of predators, attendance at community meetings, and information dissemination to media and all interested parties. A critical element to this function is the proactive targeting of individuals violating their conditions of probation, thereby demonstrating a credible threat to our community.
• Missing Persons via Internet -- Use of the Internet to communicate with relatives of missing persons resulting in numerous successful resolutions to date.
• Drug Asset Seizures - Millions of drug crime dollars seized through upper-mid-street level investigations These seizures contribute the majority of money to the Law Enforcement Trust Fund which provides for departmental, city, and community needs at no tax payer expense.
• Juvenile Crime Control - A 31-point plan to address the juvenile crime problem that includes 13 Prevention/Intervention components and 15 Enforcement/Investigation components.
• Vice Unit - Successfully concluded an investigation into a major escort agency that was operating within the City of Ft. Lauderdale. Seized records indicated that the perpetrator was earning more than $1,000,000 a year from his illegal prostitution business. Another significant case involved the Internet as a means of coercing children into sexual activity with adults. In this instance our detective posed as a child while online until sufficient evidence was obtained to arrest the culprit.

Training

The primary method of maintaining a sound organization is through continuous, appropriate, and realistic training. In the recent past, you have all assisted in increasing the volume and quality of this critically important facet of our business. We have:

• implemented increased firearms training (Handgun Concepts, Shotgun, etc.)
• improved timeliness of training announcements
• developed a system insuring mandatory retraining will be completed 1 year ahead of schedule
• enhanced Less Lethal strategy with new policy, equipment and training
• enhanced annual department-wide training in field force tactics, street survival and tactical training
• EVOC training.
• increased supervisory and management training opportunities.

Appearance/Premises

Administrative personnel have worked to improve the conditions under which we operate. Communications, Records and Property Control personnel continue to process an incredible volume of calls, reports, and equipment They also serve around the clock, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Our facilities have seen many improvements that were long overdue. Painting and graphics on the building, prisoner transfer area improvements, new carpeting, replacement of electronic door card system, etc. have all been accomplished. We were able to increase security in the Evidence Unit through fencing, a buzzer entry system, and the installation of cameras.

Easily the most visible and most anticipated change is our transition to blue uniforms. Implementation for the uniforms will be October 1st. This project was a tremendous undertaking. Besides selecting appropriate materials, the uniform shoulder patch was completely redesigned. The assistance in all phases of this process again proved your willingness to participate and your acceptance of change. A part of this project is already visible in the new graphics and colors of our marked vehicles.

Technology

Increasing technological capabilities will insure that we remain at the forefront of modern policing. We anticipate in the near future completing our migration from the Unix-based applications into a more adaptable and user-friendly Microsoft NT environment.

We are continuing to field test the Forte' mobile reporting computers. We are rapidly moving towards efficiency through automation in fields as wide ranging as AFIS, jail management, bar coding for evidence, CAD, Internet access, pawnshop monitoring, inventory control, and enhanced communication. A major program will be on line soon to assist in maximizing the deployment of our patrol forces.

Employee Relations

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, our achievements have occurred during a period of cooperation and mutual respect between our unions and our management. This increasing cooperation and understanding on critical issues between all members of this agency provides the basis for continuing progress. Our relationships, both internal and external, demonstrate in a highly visible form our ability to provide the most professional, effective, and efficient service possible.

Nonetheless, this is one area that each of you needs to assess for yourself. By traditional measures we are in good shape. The DROP program is in place. We have begun the process of implementing a personally assigned patrol vehicle program. Vouchers have been provided for protective vests that allow you to obtain your personal preference. Our authorized departmental staffing is at an all time high. We are in the middle of a 3-year extension to a successful contract between the FOP and the City that took effect with very little negotiating difficulty. We have seen a dramatic reduction in the need for labor arbitration for either individual or contract issues. There has been a positive opening of lines of communication within the Department, as well as between the Chief's office and employee unions. As a group we have set the tone for high professional and moral standards, been devoid of institutional scandal, and have been absolutely non-political in our role in the community. All of us need to continue to work together in a manner that enhances these positive relations.

Closing

The last 3 years have run the entire gamut of events. From the tragic loss of Officer Bryant Peney, to the welcoming of over 260 new members into our professional "family". We have all weathered personal loss, great joy, and no small amount of frustration both at work and at home.

I want to reinforce what I said at the beginning of this message. I am very proud of the professionalism and accomplishments of this agency. Our organization consists of an outstanding group of dedicated and exceptional people. The current community perception of our Department is one of a well respected, professional department that adheres to a high standard of excellence.

In the coming months we will be working together to further define our goals and prepare for the next century. Keep a positive attitude about yourself and your co-workers. You are the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and I am extremely honored to be part of "Florida's Finest". Stay safe and take care of each other, and as importantly, take care of our community - they deserve our best.

Briefing Room

Go to the Chief's Office

E-Mail the Chief