Peace Officers Memorial and Police Week

44:30Now we're RS4. Uh this is Commissioner Bradford's item. Uh so Todd and Paul, if you would, come on up.

44:38Resolution number 2311, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week of May 15th through the May 21st as Police Officer Week in Pasco County. Whereas in 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed public law 877. 126-36 USC-136, which authorized the President to proclaim May

45:0815th of every year as Peace Officer Memorial Day in honor of the federal, state, and local officers who have been killed, disabled, or otherwise injured in the line of duty. This resolution also authorized the president to designate the week in which Peace Officer Memorial Day falls as National Police Week. And whereas all federal, state, and local police officers, sheriffs, and other law enforcement officers across

45:38the United States serve with valor, dignity, and integrity. And whereas among their members Duties. Law enforcement officers are charged with pursuing justice for all individuals and always acting with fidelity to the constitutional and civil rights of the public. And whereas for generations, brave men and women throughout Pasco County have answered the call to serve and protect our communities. Our law enforcement officers embody the courage and honor

46:08their Represent the best of Pasco County. And whereas in moments of danger and desperation, the first people we turn to are law enforcement officers, these often unsung heroes risk their lives so that we can live in peace and security. And whereas law enforcement officers endure long shifts in dangerous and unpredictable circumstances. circumstances. However, Our law enforcement officers uh demonstrate remarkable

46:39self-control while operating under extreme pressure. Above all, Pasco County law enforcement officers maintain the highest levels of professionalism. And whereas, law enforcement officers often navigate complex, challenging situations while being exposed to some of the worst scenarios anyone could dare to imagine. Scenarios to which most citizens have the privilege of turning a blind eye. Yeah. And whereas we all owe

47:09respect and gratitude to all of Pasco County's law enforcement, these men and women work tireless tirelessly to protect us while putting their lives on the line. to maintain and defend civil order in our community. And whereas law enforcement officers who wear the badge are selfless servant public servants who put themselves in harm's way to keep us safe and deserve our support and appreciation. Now, therefore be

47:39it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby proclaims May 15th as Peace Officer Memorial Day and the week of May 15th through the 21st as Police Week in Pasco County. Done and resolved in regular session with a quorum president voting this ninth day of May, 2023. Move

48:02approval.

48:03Second.

48:04All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. And uh Sheriff, I apologize, I should have called you guys up as well, but it's it's unusual not having a commissioner here and want to bring up Todd and Paula to do it, so sorry for that. Um Todd, Paula?

48:17Very good. Good morning, Mr. Chair, Commissioners. I'm Todd Pillars, Legislative Assistant to Commissioner Gary Bradford District 4. Thank you for the opportunity to speak at today's board meeting. Uh and if there's one board meeting that uh Commissioner Bradford is unhappy about being uh absent, it is today. As a 25-year Tampa PD veteran and ardent supporter of firefighters, law enforcement, and all force responders, Commissioner Bradford. Wishes he was here as he is honored to put forth this resolution to recognize Police Week in Pasco County. Police

48:47Week is a time when we come together to commemorate the brave men and women who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We honor their dedication and commitment to serve and protect their communities. We also take time to recognize the sacrifices made by the families of fallen officers. The loss of a loved one is never easy, and the surviving spouses and family members deserve our support and our gratitude. Police Week is not just about honoring the past. It is about embracing the present and looking towards the future. It is the time to show our appreciation for the work

49:18that law enforcement officers do every day to keep us safe. It is Commissioner Bradford's hope that today's resolution is seen as a sign that we've come together as a community to support our local law enforcement agencies and to pay our respects for those that have paid the ultimate price. It's been an emotional lead up to today with the memorial service for firefighter Jason Tucker a week ago on the West Side and the Pasco Law Enforcement Memorial Day being held right here on the front lawn this last Friday. But Commissioner Bradford insisted that Paulister

49:48Nigliero and I be here today to personally recognize Sheriff Naco and his deputies, Chief Walters, Chief Cochen, Chief Robinson, Chief Brewer, and all their sworn police officers for their willingness to put their lives on the line while serving and protecting the citizens of Pasco County. And throughout this week, if you're inclined to say a prayer for our peace officers and their family, Uh yes, that you also say a prayer for healing for Commissioner Bradford. Rest assured he is itching to get back to work serving the citizens of Pasco

50:18County and continue to support our first responder community. We wish him a speedy recovery. Thank you.

50:24Thank you. And Sheriff?

50:32Yeah. Yeah, we

50:35like to see the bay

50:35is

50:36always here.

50:36Uh on behalf of all the women, men, canines of the Pasco Sheriff's Office, we want to say thank you very much. Um it's always great to be recognized for the board.

50:44Horses.

50:45Horses, yes. Oh yeah, you're right. We've got horses. And horses and so um it's always great to be recognized by the board. Um as you know, every year when the survey goes out by citizens, public safety is always the number one concern by far. And so we want to thank you for the concern. I want to thank Besides the members that are here today, Commissioner Bradford, I hope he's watching at home right now. So thank you guys very much. Thank you, Stephen. And so it's one of those things that, you know, as we go forward as a county, you know, working together is always very well. Us uh the the law enforcement bureaus, everybody working together, joining with the county on the communication center

51:15will be a great move forward. I know many cities are moving forward with that. But I want to thank you for bringing on board JJ Murphy too. Because they say bringing those Partnerships together really lock arms and so having Ock and Now for public safety has really helped us out to communicate and work better together. I know you got JP Murphy, I always get the two.

51:34uh for uh permitting. But I wanna say thank you very much on behalf of every woman and men and especially our families. I will say this, you know, you talk about recruiting. It's women and men want to still, especially in Florida and especially here in Basco County, they still want to get into law enforcement. You see your people say they want to do it. What you often hear behind the scenes is they say, I really want to do it, but my family said, uh I'm not sure. I they see what goes on nationally, they see what happens, but when they know

52:04they have the support in the community, family is more likely to say yes you can join and I can tell you right now that's probably the hardest thing that all law enforcement agencies deal with but it to live in a community where they know they have the full backing of our citizens and the commission that means so much to them. So that being said thank you very much and we talk about praying pray for Commissioner Bradford and you know as I as Commissioner Bradford will always want to say too pray for all the women and men that are out there in our families. So thank you very much.

52:29Thank you. Anyone else from your team?

52:34Which rolls there. Yes, sir.

52:37Oh,

52:37here we go. Chief, yeah. We're welcome then. Chief Robinson, Port Ritchie Police Department. On behalf of the men and women of the Port Ritchie Police Department, we'd like to thank the Commission and especially uh Commissioner Bradford wishing for his full full and speedy recovery. We appreciate this recognition. Uh thank you very much.

52:55Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Roken. Okay. I um Man. Everywhere I go I see the surest people out on the streets or wherever I go. I certainly appreciate their service and what they do for the citizens of Pasco County. Not j not just the Sheriff's Office but all all the cities that have their officers too. uh they're looking after our uh way of life here and and we've got a good life here in Pasco County and I

53:26think we're probably one of the safer counties around, to be honest. We we have issues, but Uh those were taken care of in a uh very speedy fashion and and done very nicely where we have the best of the best here in in Pasco County. And I appreciate all of you what you do. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner Weightman.

53:46Thank you.

53:49More than just in policing and keeping us safe, I'm very grateful to have the relationship that that our office has with really each each department we have here because when I go to make a policy decision, I really try to to look through the whole picture and the whole scope of what the project means, not just how it impacts public works, how but it be everything that goes into a project. I really appreciate it The input that you all give to our offices and helping us come to the right decision. That way we can take care of the folks if

54:19it's folks coming in or the businesses that are coming in. And also appreciate the willingness to participate in the future planning of our county and sheriff allowing your team to join us on you know as we identify you know what we're going to look like in the next 50 years. So I appreciate every everybody's input. put and you know, just being a being a part of all our communities with the uh you know, the downtown first Fridays with uh Dade City and and the involvement there and everything

54:50that's going on in in West Pasco and the and the boat runs, the poker runs and keeping everybody safe and having a great time. We recognize that and just we appreciate y'all very much. Mr. Starkey.

55:01Yeah, and I would echo my fellow commissioners and um and it's great to see all the different um law enforcement offices represented here today. Sheriff, um when you were speaking and talked about recruitment it it made me wonder if you guys are How you guys recruit maybe you have enough interest here locally. I know we're we're looking at going For a broader recruitment for our corrections office and I wonder do you are you recruiting in Detroit in December or and you know maybe

55:31we join forces on recruiting? Uh what what

55:35so commissioner yes you know we don't uh not Detroit uh but what we do I mean we don't go to Detroit, we'll go wherever but um the nice town Yeah we'll go I mean that's the thing what so what our big thing for our push of recruiting is we go out there and we try to Um you know, by word of mouth, because a lot of law enforcement don't know each other. We're very blessed. So when we have our new member orientation, I'll ask, you know, where are you from? Where are you from? And they'll oh this and who was prior military? A lot of prior military. So we can recruit a lot from the military. A lot of veterans come in. Uh it's interesting when you hear

56:05from prior law enforcement who came from different parts of the country. And so what happens is they said, you know, I wanted a gap from where I came from. uh you know, somewhere up north usually. Um it's not even sometimes I'll mention about the weather. Vast majority of the time it's the climate they're in, not weather climate, but the political climate. And so they're tired of it, they're fed up by it. And they said, hey, you know, we recognize what went on, we see what goes on in Pasco, we looked up your agency, we like what's happening here. So that's the thing. But we do have recruiting teams, and actually, what our recruiting teams do is we go out to colleges. So

56:35we go to a lot of historical black colleges, and we go to Thune Cookman, FAMU, even within the state of Florida, we go to different universities. And then we go to military academies that do not where military academies, not the Naval Academy or Air Force, because they have a commitment afterwards, but military academies where these individuals say, Hey, you know what? I was thinking about I want to get into a career of service. It may not be law enforcement, but I mean it may not be the military, but it may be law enforcement. So we actually go to different universities because what we're trying to do is get them early, and then the next path uh what we're

57:05trying to do is implement. Within our own county, our explorers. And so that's the nice thing. We have a great explorer program, they do a phenomenal job bringing these kids up. But basically, when they hit 18, 19 years old, there's a gap before they, you know, can go into law enforcement. We bring them in. So what we're trying to do is fill that gap this year to say, hey, let's keep them through this pipeline, because we don't want to lose an explorer, somebody who's doing done a phenomenal job, and then they go off somewhere else. We want to keep them in that pipeline. blind, keep them excited about the Sheriff's Office, and you know, then they do a couple of years in a non-sworn role

57:36and then we're able to keep them then we're able to put them through the academy and then hire them forward.

57:40Nice. Thank you.

57:42Yeah, Commissioner Starkey bring up a good idea, I think. Uh and Sheriff, what do you what do you think if we looked at trying to work with our first responders from, let's say, fire EMS that we have, uh work with our jails corrections and looking for deputies as well, and try to put a joint flyer out there. Now you get a flyer that has four branches, they all take a look, and it shows the United Force that the commission and the Sheriff's Office working together to try to like protect our citizens.

58:07So it's interesting, uh the other day myself and uh JJ Murphy were talking along with Colonel Harrington and we were talking about recruiting very briefly and so you know he as you know he's an Air Force veteran. So one thing that clicks with fire rescue is uh power rescue. Fire rescue men, they d that's what they do. They save lives. They go in there in a you know in a non combat well they go in combat roles, but they go in there to rescue people. So there's a that's one thing. Um we're more than happy. We have a we have a plan in place where we go out and we recruit. We have a strong connection with the military and especially

58:37for paramedics, for people of a medical background, that that crossover to fire rescue is very easy. And so yeah, we're more than happy to partner That's the good thing about having a knock over public safety. It makes things much easier to get things done.

58:48Let's do it. Great idea, Mr. Carmelo, for bringing that in. JJ. So let's let's start this together and let's all go down and take a picture together. It's a little crowded, but I think we should all do it together. And JJ, if you would, Mike.

59:14So we really have a very we really have a very short part.

1:00:10Thank you all. Yeah.

1:00:17And then

1:00:18one right

1:00:18here.

1:00:52Maybe I'll just

1:00:53text this right here and say anything. I'm just gonna be too. Safe return.