August 15, 2025 • 20 mins
Crime is down 28% in Cape Coral, and in this episode of the Cape CopCast 'Chief's Chat,' we're breaking down exactly how it happened. Despite our growing population and increasing calls for service, we've achieved remarkable reductions across both violent and property crime categories while maintaining solvability rates well above national averages.
What's our secret? Chief Anthony Sizemore says it's right there in our mission statement: "Partnering with the community to ensure the highest level of safety for all." This isn't just aspirational language—it's a practical approach that yields measurable results. When community members lock their doors, report suspicious activity, and maintain open lines of communication with officers, we create a foundation for success. Combine that with strategic deployment, advanced technology, and dedicated personnel who genuinely care about this city, and you've got a winning formula.
We're particularly proud of our recent CALEA assessment—the gold standard in law enforcement accreditation that we've maintained since 1989. Assessors came to the department and conducted an exhaustive evaluation of our policies, procedures, and practices, from use of force guidelines to hiring practices that reflect our community's diversity. The result? The most successful evaluation in our department's history, with assessors recommending us as a national model in several areas. This recognition validates the significant innovations we've implemented over the past five years and confirms we're not just meeting standards—we're setting them.
Looking ahead, we're expanding our ranks to keep pace with Cape Coral's growth, creating promotional opportunities from top to bottom within our organization. This combination of proven success, external validation, and internal development has created tremendous momentum. Have questions about our approach to community safety? Reach out—partnership is what makes this work, and we're just getting started.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Cop
cast Chiefs Chat edition.
I'm one of your hosts, lisaGreenberg.
We have Mercedes busy with aride along today, so we'll catch
up with her next time, but Istill wanted to sit down with
you today because we've had alot going on within the
department.
You know, I was even wonderingif we'd be able to sit down
today because you've been sobusy with everything that's been
going on.
Want to first dive into thecrime stats and then we'll get
(00:26):
into the other goings on thathave been happening here.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Sure Perfect.
You guys released our crimestats.
What a week ago, maybe a weekand a half ago and tremendous
news and a 28% reduction overall.
Yeah, but diving deeper intothat reduction in our violent
crime, notably homicides,reduction in property crime.
(00:49):
Our burglaries are down andalso our solvability is higher
than the national average.
We consistently are, but thatmaintained.
So we have a growing number ofcalls for service as our city
grows more people, more stuff,more busy.
Number of calls for service asour city grows more people, more
stuff, more busy.
That translates into morereports and just a lot going on.
(01:14):
But to have a reduction incrime right up against that
growth is really really great.
There's a lot of reasons whythat happened.
We can talk about those.
But and the solvability, theones that we do have, the crimes
that do occur that we get toinvestigate?
We're cracking them.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I think it's great to get this message out too,
because we would always get somany comments on Facebook
anytime we'd post an arrest oranything of people being like.
You know, crime is so high.
This place is getting out ofcontrol.
We're becoming another Miamiand I think it's good to
reassure people that, yes, weare growing, becoming another
(01:47):
miami, and I think it's good toreassure people that, yes, we
are growing and I think theawareness is maybe what's up and
the ability to know more andreceive more information, so
that makes it feel like crimemight be up, but really the
crime is down.
You're just able to hear moreabout it.
You're able to be more aware ofit.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
What's up and through the roof is information, right,
right.
So when you before, it would beonly the affected people, or
maybe their friends and family.
But now, with the internet,social media, everything's out
there, right.
There's news 24-7.
So you're constantly exposed.
And before we go further, it'salways a shot at Miami.
(02:22):
I mean Chief Morales, I knowhim.
He's doing a great job overthere.
Their numbers are looking good.
So be nice to miami yeah, comeon but, um, no, I I hear that
you know we're out of control,we're worse than than, um, some
other cities, and that's just sofar from the truth.
What it is is real life putinto action, what our vision,
(02:42):
mission and values are.
So any corporation or anycompany in a police department
and we're no different we have avision, mission and value
statements, and our mission ispartnering with the community to
ensure the highest level ofsafety for all.
That's it.
So.
We partner with you, youpartner with us, and the shared
(03:02):
goal is to make it the safestplace for everybody.
And that's an abstractstatement.
But what you're seeing withthese crime numbers and how we
got to them, is putting thatabstract statement into action.
Right.
So, as good as we are, we can'tsolve crime without cooperating
(03:23):
witnesses, vigilant victimstalking to us, reporting crime.
Right, you can get a communitythat has lower crime because
people just don't botherreporting anymore because
there's just apathy.
That's not the case here.
We have a very engagedcommunity, a really good
partnership with us, so that'show we're able to do it.
(03:44):
So we have a community who doestheir best to lock their doors,
call the police, see something,say something.
They know us in all walks oflife.
So we are very in tune andingrained into the community.
We are the community as well.
A great many of us live here.
And then you have the tools.
(04:04):
Great many of us live here.
And then you have the tools,the technology, the planning and
deployment, and very scientificand strategic in how we do it.
We're seeing fruits of that.
We talked about it on thepodcast the way we've changed
the way we operated to be moremodernized and contemporary, and
you're seeing a spare fruit.
And, most importantly, with allthose tools and technology and
(04:27):
deployment, it takes talented,compassionate people that work
in this building that I am mostproud of that have put it into
action.
So the mission statement ofpartnering together to make it
the safest place you're seeingthat in action.
That's what I'm most proud of.
So it's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Absolutely so.
I think a lot of people, whenthey saw our post, were
wondering where these crimestats came from.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Sure.
So back a hundred years ago, in1920s, the FBI started
requiring police departments toreport their crime stats.
It was called UCR Uniform CrimeReporting.
The problem with UCR was, ifthere were multiple crimes that
happened at a crime scene, youpick the biggest one and the
(05:15):
other lesser crimes did not getcounted, so it was more of a
summary than actualpoint-by-point crime.
And that went on for a longtime.
And in 2020, almost 100 yearsof collecting that data we went
or the FBI went to somethingcalled NIBRS, which is an
acronym for NationalIncident-Based Reporting System.
(05:37):
What that essentially means is,instead of having three or four
crimes that happen at anincident and you pick the
biggest one or most pressing one, nibir's collects all of them.
Okay, so it's not summary-based, it's incident-based, so it's a
truer picture A break-in andthen a sexual battery.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
The break-in wouldn't get counted because the sexual
battery is more pressing Right.
But with NIBRS it would countboth.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Okay, right, so it's much more accurate A truer
picture.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
What the FBI and a lot of police departments were
worried about is thateverybody's numbers were going
to jump Right, but somethinghappened in 2020 that took
everybody's mind off everythingand it really slowed down the
process.
So, during the uh, covid andlockdowns, um it, it took a
while to get nibers up andrunning and it's such a massive
(06:33):
change and it's an expense,because you had to upgrade your
computer systems to be able todo it to track your nibers or
you'd have to hand count, whichwe haven't done that in many,
many years right.
So a lot of of cities andgovernments and police
departments had to expend moneyto upgrade their systems.
Fortunately we were on thatplan anyway and the new system
(06:54):
we had was NIBRS compliant, butus KPD reporting to the state,
who then reports to the feds.
It took a while to geteverybody on board with that
massive change.
Well, we're on everybody's onboard now, or almost everybody,
but we certainly are.
We were NIBRS compliant veryearly but the reporting stats
(07:16):
weren't coming out.
And now they are and we knew,but we didn't have proof that
that our methods and what wewere doing was going to hit.
And when we got the numbers werealized it did hit.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, it's awesome, it's great to see, and I know it
was something we really wantedto put out there just to kind of
keep our community informed onwhat we're seeing so that they
can feel safe here in Cape.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Coral.
It's a motivator, too, to keepdoing it.
Yep, right, keep doing whatwe're seeing, and so that they
can feel safe here in Cape Coral.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It's a motivator, too , to keep doing it.
Yep Right, keep doing whatwe're doing.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Keep working with us.
We'll keep working with youbecause what we're doing is
working.
It's a good, positivereinforcement, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And I know we wanted to talk a little bit too.
We've had some visitors in thebuilding the last couple of
weeks.
It's been so busy.
We had some folks here workingwith us to essentially renew or
continue our accreditation, andit's something that is a big
goal for us every few years.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It's another one of our shared commitments with the
community.
So we had visitors in thebuilding, like you said.
Kalea was here and Kalea is nota person.
Kalea is another acronym we doa lot of acronyms here but it's
the Commission on Accreditationfor Law Enitation for law
enforcement agencies, or CALEAis what it's called, and CALEA
(08:31):
is the gold standard, bestaccrediting body.
It's really the onlyaccrediting body for us, and
when you talk about andespecially in 2020, not COVID,
talk about and especially in2020, not COVID, but the
protests and the reimagining ofpolice or the big community
conversation they called it, oneof the things that came out of
(08:53):
that is we want a national setof standards for police.
There needs to be astandardization and I got great
news there is and there has been, and CALEA is that gold
standard.
That is, that national bestpractice model that you have to
voluntarily submit to get Not 99, not 2009, 1989.
(09:18):
So there is nobody in thisbuilding, myself included, who
have ever worked a day at theCape Coral Police Department
where we were notinternationally accredited by.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
CALEA.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
It's a huge thing for us and for the community.
So, when you talk about anational set of standards, what
are your use of force guidelines?
What are your demographiccounts for traffic stops?
Are you disproportionatelystopping a certain group in the
community?
Are you hiring reflective ofyour service population?
(09:58):
That's fancy CALEA talk for.
Do the people that you hireequally or proportionately
represent the people that youpolice Example?
Do the people that you hireequally or proportionately
represent the people that youpolice Example?
Do you have?
We're almost a quarter Latinoin the community.
We should be at, or effortingto get to, a quarter Latino in
the workforce.
So we accurately,proportionately reflect who we
(10:22):
police.
We do that and we measure itand we strive to do that.
We ensure that our people haveproper training, that they have
AEDs in their car, that theyhave CPR training, that they
have bias-based policingtraining, that they're provided
with an evaluation every year,that our evidence and property
(10:46):
section meets standards, so thatwhen we go to court our cases
are successful because we havebest practice in place to
preserve evidence, to testevidence, things like that.
So I can't go through 400 ofthem, but they go from
successful onboarding of newemployees all the way to public
(11:08):
interaction and trust.
Use of force counts.
Are we proportionate in ouruses of force?
How many uses of force do youhave when compared with how many
interactions you have with thecommunity?
Are you trending in bestpractice?
Does your training and use offorce comply with the DOJ?
So if you want to get federalfunding for projects, one of the
(11:32):
stipulations is that yourpolicies meet the DOJ guidelines
.
It's one way that they can getpolice departments to comply
with modernization and thingslike that.
Well, if you're CALEAaccredited, it's a waiver
because you are already at, orgreater than, that standard.
So you don't need to beevaluated by the DOJ because
(11:54):
they endorse CALEA and we areCALEA accredited so we are able
to quickly and more smoothlyaccept grants and things like
that.
So that translates to goodthings for the community.
So we've done that, like I said, since 89.
We're the longest continuallyaccredited police department or
law enforcement agency in theregion and we every year it's a
(12:20):
web-based portal for years one,two and three.
They evaluate everything.
So we have all of our policiesand procedures, so they'll have
a standard.
You have to do this.
That's what we recommend ormandate From there.
You have to have a policy orprocedure that says you do that,
and then you have to go a stepfurther and show a proof that
you're complying with the policy.
(12:41):
So it's a three-step processtimes 400.
And they evaluate that annually.
On the fourth year, a team ofprofessional assessors come to
your department and they gothrough everything.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Interviews hours long .
Speaker 2 (12:57):
You said you cleaned your room.
They're coming in and they'relooking under the bed.
They're going to make sure thatyou are doing what you said and
they can be very tough.
Yeah, and we had, I will say,the most successful on-site
evaluation in our history since1989, just this past couple of
weeks.
They interview cold interviewswith they'll grab a evidence
(13:21):
technician and say tell me whatyou do when you have this and
your staff has to know.
They'll grab an officer and doa ride along and make sure that
they are doing what we say we doand exhibiting best practice.
They went to our trainingcenter and saw how we train.
They talked to you guys to talkabout our community engagement
(13:43):
and they're here for about aweek and it's all day, every day
, and they look at everythingthat we do and then at the end
they do an interview or adebrief with me.
They do it with the CEO of theorganization and select members
of staff and talk about whatthey found.
And it was very, very humblingand a great experience.
(14:08):
I will say that for five yearsNovember will be five years for
me and we've made a lot ofchange, and change is not easy.
Right, we were doing wellbefore.
So it wasn't like I had to fixsomething broken.
I took something that was greatand tried to make it greater.
So you always have to innovateand there is no safety net and
there is no book for innovators.
(14:30):
There's a lot of risk.
Is it going to hit?
I don't know, the whip hasn'tcracked.
Is it going to hit?
I don't know, the whip hasn'tcracked.
Well, this was a real test andthey came in and not only did we
pass, they praised ourinnovation, our research-based
decision-making.
If we're going to gethigh-water vehicles something we
talked about on this podcast wedon't just go out and get them.
We research what's the bestpractice?
(14:53):
How do we acquire them,implement them, deploy them,
train for them, store them?
Very research-based, and theywere applauding of that, and so
it was really nice across theboard.
A redistricting that we've doneand the science that went into
it the way we hire, the way wedeploy, the way we train was a
(15:14):
lot of change in the last fiveyears and if it didn't click,
it's on me right, the buck stopshere.
So it was one of the greatestprofessional experiences that
I've had to know that crazyideas that I have that were put
into practice by tremendous menand women who believe in it and
(15:37):
it becomes our shared belief.
And I do this.
I include the community,because we collaborate with the
community and try to deliver aservice that is reflective of
what our community wants.
To have them say not only werewe one of the best in the state
of Florida, but we should be anational model, for a lot of
what we do was just a big winfor all of Cape Coral.
(16:01):
And where we're at in theprocess now is, I told you, they
come in and they do theevaluation.
They gave us their feedback.
They write a report andrecommendation.
That recommendation was glowingand they recommended that we
remain accredited bere-accredited is what they call
it.
That gets sent to CALEA mainoffice where the panel, the
(16:23):
commission that's the C in CALEAreviews it.
And then I and ouraccreditation team have to go
the week before Thanksgiving toJacksonville for the conference
and I have to go.
It looks like Congress.
They're up there on a panel andI have to go and sit and
they'll go through the report.
They'll ask me some thingsabout the agency and I'm very
(16:46):
confident that we're going to bere-accredited, which is a
tremendous victory for thepolice department.
Like I said, the city of CapeCoral as a whole.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Heck yeah, that is so awesome.
And I do want to point out youmentioned the accreditation team
.
We have two detectives whosesole purpose is to work in
accreditation and work on thisday in, day out.
This is something we take veryseriously.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's their full-time job and it's a tremendously busy
job because anytime we changeanything we're going to change
from the black microphone standsto blue.
It's in a policy and theyresearch it to make sure it's
legal, ethical, best practice,smart and change the policy.
That's a goofy example, but wedo that, for everything we do is
(17:32):
intentional and you have tomaintain it and stay up on it,
and one thing like that can putyou in peril, you know, and
jeopardize you gettingreaccredited.
So it's their full-time job.
And some would say, well, whywouldn't you?
Why do you have two?
Why wouldn't you have one?
Or why isn't it part-time?
Because it's that important forus and the community to be
(17:54):
accredited.
You want that national set ofstandards.
You want your department to beon the cutting edge.
You want them to be aprogressive, contemporary.
That's the way it should be.
And when our staff goes toclasses, training classes and
conferences across the country,sometimes you kind of forget
when you're in the building.
I wish we would do this.
(18:16):
I wish we would do that.
When you go to other places andit's taught that modern police
department should be doing this,oh man, we do that.
Oh, we do that.
And it's really nice to hearwhen people come back hey, we do
.
We do what you're supposed todo.
We are on the leading edge ofwhat law enforcement is supposed
to be.
It's great to hear that butthat's not by accident and you
(18:38):
don't just all shucks your waythrough it.
It's hard work and we invest inhaving talented people keep us
on track.
Very intentional Two big winsfor our department over the last
couple of weeks, then Very big,and this week probably in a
future podcast we'll talk aboutit with retirement coupled with
growth.
Retirement plus growth equalsopportunity.
(18:59):
Right, that's a good formulaand that opportunity is a lot of
promotions.
So we have a promotionalprocess going on for lieutenant
and for sergeant.
So we have existing sergeantsthat are going to move into the
lieutenant rank.
It's a very competitive processthat creates voids in the
sergeant rank.
So we have officers that aretesting for sergeant.
(19:19):
They're going to move into that.
We have some growth coming inOctober because we have to keep
up.
So there's new lieutenant andsergeant positions coming.
So a lot of great opportunitythere.
But it doesn't stop therebecause the officers and
detectives and specializedassignment people that are
moving up create opportunitylaterally within the
organization and new people comeon to fill that line level role
(19:43):
.
So it's a top to bottom bigforward moving thing.
We're a cruise ship movingforward, moving fast, but very
big and a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
For sure A tease for our next episode.
Just a little tease to keeppeople on their toes.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
More guests for you.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, right, there we go.
We love it.
We need the guests.
Keep them coming.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday and thank you for
listening at home, and we willcatch you next time.
Have a good one.
Welcome back to another episode of the Cape Cop
cast Chiefs Chat edition.
I'm one of your hosts, lisaGreenberg.
We have Mercedes busy with aride along today, so we'll catch
up with her next time, but Istill wanted to sit down with
you today because we've had alot going on within the
department.
You know, I was even wonderingif we'd be able to sit down
today because you've been sobusy with everything that's been
going on.
Want to first dive into thecrime stats and then we'll get
(00:26):
into the other goings on thathave been happening here.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Sure Perfect.
You guys released our crimestats.
What a week ago, maybe a weekand a half ago and tremendous
news and a 28% reduction overall.
Yeah, but diving deeper intothat reduction in our violent
crime, notably homicides,reduction in property crime.
(00:49):
Our burglaries are down andalso our solvability is higher
than the national average.
We consistently are, but thatmaintained.
So we have a growing number ofcalls for service as our city
grows more people, more stuff,more busy.
Number of calls for service asour city grows more people, more
stuff, more busy.
That translates into morereports and just a lot going on.
(01:14):
But to have a reduction incrime right up against that
growth is really really great.
There's a lot of reasons whythat happened.
We can talk about those.
But and the solvability, theones that we do have, the crimes
that do occur that we get toinvestigate?
We're cracking them.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I think it's great to get this message out too,
because we would always get somany comments on Facebook
anytime we'd post an arrest oranything of people being like.
You know, crime is so high.
This place is getting out ofcontrol.
We're becoming another Miamiand I think it's good to
reassure people that, yes, weare growing, becoming another
(01:47):
miami, and I think it's good toreassure people that, yes, we
are growing and I think theawareness is maybe what's up and
the ability to know more andreceive more information, so
that makes it feel like crimemight be up, but really the
crime is down.
You're just able to hear moreabout it.
You're able to be more aware ofit.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
What's up and through the roof is information, right,
right.
So when you before, it would beonly the affected people, or
maybe their friends and family.
But now, with the internet,social media, everything's out
there, right.
There's news 24-7.
So you're constantly exposed.
And before we go further, it'salways a shot at Miami.
(02:22):
I mean Chief Morales, I knowhim.
He's doing a great job overthere.
Their numbers are looking good.
So be nice to miami yeah, comeon but, um, no, I I hear that
you know we're out of control,we're worse than than, um, some
other cities, and that's just sofar from the truth.
What it is is real life putinto action, what our vision,
(02:42):
mission and values are.
So any corporation or anycompany in a police department
and we're no different we have avision, mission and value
statements, and our mission ispartnering with the community to
ensure the highest level ofsafety for all.
That's it.
So.
We partner with you, youpartner with us, and the shared
(03:02):
goal is to make it the safestplace for everybody.
And that's an abstractstatement.
But what you're seeing withthese crime numbers and how we
got to them, is putting thatabstract statement into action.
Right.
So, as good as we are, we can'tsolve crime without cooperating
(03:23):
witnesses, vigilant victimstalking to us, reporting crime.
Right, you can get a communitythat has lower crime because
people just don't botherreporting anymore because
there's just apathy.
That's not the case here.
We have a very engagedcommunity, a really good
partnership with us, so that'show we're able to do it.
(03:44):
So we have a community who doestheir best to lock their doors,
call the police, see something,say something.
They know us in all walks oflife.
So we are very in tune andingrained into the community.
We are the community as well.
A great many of us live here.
And then you have the tools.
(04:04):
Great many of us live here.
And then you have the tools,the technology, the planning and
deployment, and very scientificand strategic in how we do it.
We're seeing fruits of that.
We talked about it on thepodcast the way we've changed
the way we operated to be moremodernized and contemporary, and
you're seeing a spare fruit.
And, most importantly, with allthose tools and technology and
(04:27):
deployment, it takes talented,compassionate people that work
in this building that I am mostproud of that have put it into
action.
So the mission statement ofpartnering together to make it
the safest place you're seeingthat in action.
That's what I'm most proud of.
So it's just crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Absolutely so.
I think a lot of people, whenthey saw our post, were
wondering where these crimestats came from.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Sure.
So back a hundred years ago, in1920s, the FBI started
requiring police departments toreport their crime stats.
It was called UCR Uniform CrimeReporting.
The problem with UCR was, ifthere were multiple crimes that
happened at a crime scene, youpick the biggest one and the
(05:15):
other lesser crimes did not getcounted, so it was more of a
summary than actualpoint-by-point crime.
And that went on for a longtime.
And in 2020, almost 100 yearsof collecting that data we went
or the FBI went to somethingcalled NIBRS, which is an
acronym for NationalIncident-Based Reporting System.
(05:37):
What that essentially means is,instead of having three or four
crimes that happen at anincident and you pick the
biggest one or most pressing one, nibir's collects all of them.
Okay, so it's not summary-based, it's incident-based, so it's a
truer picture A break-in andthen a sexual battery.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
The break-in wouldn't get counted because the sexual
battery is more pressing Right.
But with NIBRS it would countboth.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Okay, right, so it's much more accurate A truer
picture.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
What the FBI and a lot of police departments were
worried about is thateverybody's numbers were going
to jump Right, but somethinghappened in 2020 that took
everybody's mind off everythingand it really slowed down the
process.
So, during the uh, covid andlockdowns, um it, it took a
while to get nibers up andrunning and it's such a massive
(06:33):
change and it's an expense,because you had to upgrade your
computer systems to be able todo it to track your nibers or
you'd have to hand count, whichwe haven't done that in many,
many years right.
So a lot of of cities andgovernments and police
departments had to expend moneyto upgrade their systems.
Fortunately we were on thatplan anyway and the new system
(06:54):
we had was NIBRS compliant, butus KPD reporting to the state,
who then reports to the feds.
It took a while to geteverybody on board with that
massive change.
Well, we're on everybody's onboard now, or almost everybody,
but we certainly are.
We were NIBRS compliant veryearly but the reporting stats
(07:16):
weren't coming out.
And now they are and we knew,but we didn't have proof that
that our methods and what wewere doing was going to hit.
And when we got the numbers werealized it did hit.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, it's awesome, it's great to see, and I know it
was something we really wantedto put out there just to kind of
keep our community informed onwhat we're seeing so that they
can feel safe here in Cape.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Coral.
It's a motivator, too, to keepdoing it.
Yep, right, keep doing whatwe're seeing, and so that they
can feel safe here in Cape Coral.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It's a motivator, too , to keep doing it.
Yep Right, keep doing whatwe're doing.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Keep working with us.
We'll keep working with youbecause what we're doing is
working.
It's a good, positivereinforcement, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
And I know we wanted to talk a little bit too.
We've had some visitors in thebuilding the last couple of
weeks.
It's been so busy.
We had some folks here workingwith us to essentially renew or
continue our accreditation, andit's something that is a big
goal for us every few years.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It's another one of our shared commitments with the
community.
So we had visitors in thebuilding, like you said.
Kalea was here and Kalea is nota person.
Kalea is another acronym we doa lot of acronyms here but it's
the Commission on Accreditationfor Law Enitation for law
enforcement agencies, or CALEAis what it's called, and CALEA
(08:31):
is the gold standard, bestaccrediting body.
It's really the onlyaccrediting body for us, and
when you talk about andespecially in 2020, not COVID,
talk about and especially in2020, not COVID, but the
protests and the reimagining ofpolice or the big community
conversation they called it, oneof the things that came out of
(08:53):
that is we want a national setof standards for police.
There needs to be astandardization and I got great
news there is and there has been, and CALEA is that gold
standard.
That is, that national bestpractice model that you have to
voluntarily submit to get Not 99, not 2009, 1989.
(09:18):
So there is nobody in thisbuilding, myself included, who
have ever worked a day at theCape Coral Police Department
where we were notinternationally accredited by.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
CALEA.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
It's a huge thing for us and for the community.
So, when you talk about anational set of standards, what
are your use of force guidelines?
What are your demographiccounts for traffic stops?
Are you disproportionatelystopping a certain group in the
community?
Are you hiring reflective ofyour service population?
(09:58):
That's fancy CALEA talk for.
Do the people that you hireequally or proportionately
represent the people that youpolice Example?
Do the people that you hireequally or proportionately
represent the people that youpolice Example?
Do you have?
We're almost a quarter Latinoin the community.
We should be at, or effortingto get to, a quarter Latino in
the workforce.
So we accurately,proportionately reflect who we
(10:22):
police.
We do that and we measure itand we strive to do that.
We ensure that our people haveproper training, that they have
AEDs in their car, that theyhave CPR training, that they
have bias-based policingtraining, that they're provided
with an evaluation every year,that our evidence and property
(10:46):
section meets standards, so thatwhen we go to court our cases
are successful because we havebest practice in place to
preserve evidence, to testevidence, things like that.
So I can't go through 400 ofthem, but they go from
successful onboarding of newemployees all the way to public
(11:08):
interaction and trust.
Use of force counts.
Are we proportionate in ouruses of force?
How many uses of force do youhave when compared with how many
interactions you have with thecommunity?
Are you trending in bestpractice?
Does your training and use offorce comply with the DOJ?
So if you want to get federalfunding for projects, one of the
(11:32):
stipulations is that yourpolicies meet the DOJ guidelines
.
It's one way that they can getpolice departments to comply
with modernization and thingslike that.
Well, if you're CALEAaccredited, it's a waiver
because you are already at, orgreater than, that standard.
So you don't need to beevaluated by the DOJ because
(11:54):
they endorse CALEA and we areCALEA accredited so we are able
to quickly and more smoothlyaccept grants and things like
that.
So that translates to goodthings for the community.
So we've done that, like I said, since 89.
We're the longest continuallyaccredited police department or
law enforcement agency in theregion and we every year it's a
(12:20):
web-based portal for years one,two and three.
They evaluate everything.
So we have all of our policiesand procedures, so they'll have
a standard.
You have to do this.
That's what we recommend ormandate From there.
You have to have a policy orprocedure that says you do that,
and then you have to go a stepfurther and show a proof that
you're complying with the policy.
(12:41):
So it's a three-step processtimes 400.
And they evaluate that annually.
On the fourth year, a team ofprofessional assessors come to
your department and they gothrough everything.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Interviews hours long .
Speaker 2 (12:57):
You said you cleaned your room.
They're coming in and they'relooking under the bed.
They're going to make sure thatyou are doing what you said and
they can be very tough.
Yeah, and we had, I will say,the most successful on-site
evaluation in our history since1989, just this past couple of
weeks.
They interview cold interviewswith they'll grab a evidence
(13:21):
technician and say tell me whatyou do when you have this and
your staff has to know.
They'll grab an officer and doa ride along and make sure that
they are doing what we say we doand exhibiting best practice.
They went to our trainingcenter and saw how we train.
They talked to you guys to talkabout our community engagement
(13:43):
and they're here for about aweek and it's all day, every day
, and they look at everythingthat we do and then at the end
they do an interview or adebrief with me.
They do it with the CEO of theorganization and select members
of staff and talk about whatthey found.
And it was very, very humblingand a great experience.
(14:08):
I will say that for five yearsNovember will be five years for
me and we've made a lot ofchange, and change is not easy.
Right, we were doing wellbefore.
So it wasn't like I had to fixsomething broken.
I took something that was greatand tried to make it greater.
So you always have to innovateand there is no safety net and
there is no book for innovators.
(14:30):
There's a lot of risk.
Is it going to hit?
I don't know, the whip hasn'tcracked.
Is it going to hit?
I don't know, the whip hasn'tcracked.
Well, this was a real test andthey came in and not only did we
pass, they praised ourinnovation, our research-based
decision-making.
If we're going to gethigh-water vehicles something we
talked about on this podcast wedon't just go out and get them.
We research what's the bestpractice?
(14:53):
How do we acquire them,implement them, deploy them,
train for them, store them?
Very research-based, and theywere applauding of that, and so
it was really nice across theboard.
A redistricting that we've doneand the science that went into
it the way we hire, the way wedeploy, the way we train was a
(15:14):
lot of change in the last fiveyears and if it didn't click,
it's on me right, the buck stopshere.
So it was one of the greatestprofessional experiences that
I've had to know that crazyideas that I have that were put
into practice by tremendous menand women who believe in it and
(15:37):
it becomes our shared belief.
And I do this.
I include the community,because we collaborate with the
community and try to deliver aservice that is reflective of
what our community wants.
To have them say not only werewe one of the best in the state
of Florida, but we should be anational model, for a lot of
what we do was just a big winfor all of Cape Coral.
(16:01):
And where we're at in theprocess now is, I told you, they
come in and they do theevaluation.
They gave us their feedback.
They write a report andrecommendation.
That recommendation was glowingand they recommended that we
remain accredited bere-accredited is what they call
it.
That gets sent to CALEA mainoffice where the panel, the
(16:23):
commission that's the C in CALEAreviews it.
And then I and ouraccreditation team have to go
the week before Thanksgiving toJacksonville for the conference
and I have to go.
It looks like Congress.
They're up there on a panel andI have to go and sit and
they'll go through the report.
They'll ask me some thingsabout the agency and I'm very
(16:46):
confident that we're going to bere-accredited, which is a
tremendous victory for thepolice department.
Like I said, the city of CapeCoral as a whole.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Heck yeah, that is so awesome.
And I do want to point out youmentioned the accreditation team
.
We have two detectives whosesole purpose is to work in
accreditation and work on thisday in, day out.
This is something we take veryseriously.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
It's their full-time job and it's a tremendously busy
job because anytime we changeanything we're going to change
from the black microphone standsto blue.
It's in a policy and theyresearch it to make sure it's
legal, ethical, best practice,smart and change the policy.
That's a goofy example, but wedo that, for everything we do is
(17:32):
intentional and you have tomaintain it and stay up on it,
and one thing like that can putyou in peril, you know, and
jeopardize you gettingreaccredited.
So it's their full-time job.
And some would say, well, whywouldn't you?
Why do you have two?
Why wouldn't you have one?
Or why isn't it part-time?
Because it's that important forus and the community to be
(17:54):
accredited.
You want that national set ofstandards.
You want your department to beon the cutting edge.
You want them to be aprogressive, contemporary.
That's the way it should be.
And when our staff goes toclasses, training classes and
conferences across the country,sometimes you kind of forget
when you're in the building.
I wish we would do this.
(18:16):
I wish we would do that.
When you go to other places andit's taught that modern police
department should be doing this,oh man, we do that.
Oh, we do that.
And it's really nice to hearwhen people come back hey, we do
.
We do what you're supposed todo.
We are on the leading edge ofwhat law enforcement is supposed
to be.
It's great to hear that butthat's not by accident and you
(18:38):
don't just all shucks your waythrough it.
It's hard work and we invest inhaving talented people keep us
on track.
Very intentional Two big winsfor our department over the last
couple of weeks, then Very big,and this week probably in a
future podcast we'll talk aboutit with retirement coupled with
growth.
Retirement plus growth equalsopportunity.
(18:59):
Right, that's a good formulaand that opportunity is a lot of
promotions.
So we have a promotionalprocess going on for lieutenant
and for sergeant.
So we have existing sergeantsthat are going to move into the
lieutenant rank.
It's a very competitive processthat creates voids in the
sergeant rank.
So we have officers that aretesting for sergeant.
(19:19):
They're going to move into that.
We have some growth coming inOctober because we have to keep
up.
So there's new lieutenant andsergeant positions coming.
So a lot of great opportunitythere.
But it doesn't stop therebecause the officers and
detectives and specializedassignment people that are
moving up create opportunitylaterally within the
organization and new people comeon to fill that line level role
(19:43):
.
So it's a top to bottom bigforward moving thing.
We're a cruise ship movingforward, moving fast, but very
big and a lot going on.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
For sure A tease for our next episode.
Just a little tease to keeppeople on their toes.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
More guests for you.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, right, there we go.
We love it.
We need the guests.
Keep them coming.
Thank you so much for coming ontoday and thank you for
listening at home, and we willcatch you next time.
Have a good one.
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