Summary of the three papers
Orlando police department is a department in Florida that was endorsed in the year 1993. It was accredited under the regulatory Florida statute 943.125. It was formed when the Florida Sheriff Association and Florida Police Chiefs Association came up with an independent legislation that was focused on the accreditation program developed. First the department was accredited to become a police agency. It is after this that the department was certified by the commission responsible for Florida Law Enforcement accreditation in the year 1997. For the police agency to receive accreditation, it was required by the commission to comply with some standards. The main aim of imposing these standards was to ensure that quality services were extended to the public. In addition, these standards ensured that there were limited liabilities within the police agency of choice.
Ideally, accreditations of police agencies, different agencies were involved in the exercise. In addition, they were supposed to go through reaccreditation. For instance, the Orlando Police department went through its reaccreditation in the year 2000. Therefore, after many police agencies participate in the review, as well as inspection, one or several agencies are approved. For instance, the second successful reaccreditation of the Orlando Police Department was carried out in the year 2003. At this instance, the agency was supposed to comply with 250 State and National requirements for it to remain accredited. Currently, the police department possesses professionalism that is globally recognized.
Presently, the agency has four investigative sections:
- Violent crimes section
- Property crime section
- Homeland security section
- Youth services section
Each section is composed of specialized units responsible for dealing with that category of crimes. Procedurally, the Criminal investigation Division comprises of private employee, detectives who are sworn, college student among other professionals. They carry out interview to probable suspects and eyewitnesses. It is after the investigation that they carry out data analysis. Some of the special units include the traffic enforcement, marine control, airport division, K-19 unit, bike unit, training unit, SWAT unit, and international drive teams.
The mission statement is to keep the city safe from crime hence encouraging habitability. That is; it has the prolific target of maintaining safe neighborhood throughout the region. Presently, the Orlando Police Department has a cumulative 1001 employees who are either sworn and in civilian. They are sworn in to provide selfless services to the people living within the states of Orlando. Ideally the police department engages in several services to the public:
- Ensures the embracement of effective policing
- Carries out timely and effective criminal investigations
- Making relevant arrests and hence prevents crime from dominating within the society
- Carrying out community policing
- Engaging in education towards students, as part of the external duty of police officers
Paper two: News report: (Date: November 26th, 2013)
According to the news reports, a man by the name Brian Leggit was identified to have been shot dead by a police officer from the Orlando Police Department. It is deemed to have occurred due to defiance to obey the instructions by the police on patrol to pullover. He decided to drive away from the vicinity of Orange Blossom Trail and colonial Drive. The police who asked the driver to pullover decided not pursue the vehicle. Accordingly, they communicated with other police officers. Upon the communication, another police officer identified the car near Thorpe and went hood avenues as he drove towards the traffic stop. It is deemed that the driver, Brian Leggit, assumed that he was under resilience and attempted to drive over the police and hit the traffic car. However, the police officer decided to elope out of the car and moved towards the oncoming vehicle belonging to Brian Legit. He shot at the suspect’s vehicle and kills him leading to the vehicle’s loss of control and hitting a utility pole.
For any criminal activity, there ought to be an investigation to derive the source of the mayhem. The same case applies to the way the Crime Unit of Orlando corrected the evidence and carried out scene proceedings with the aim of correcting substantial information about the incidence. Accordingly, the current policy of Orlando police department states that any police officer who is found within a shoot-out is subject to an administrative leave awaiting investigation of the case. Accordingly, the police officer who is under leave is subject to being handled by the Florida Department of law Enforcement. Accordingly, this department is responsible for carrying out investigations on the shootings. This directive is part of the requirements in the Standard operating procedure of the agency.
Paper three: News report (Date: February 12, 2014. Reporter: Arelis R. Hernandez)
Ideally, this is a report on the circumstantial death of a Deputy Jonathan Scott Pine who belonged to the office of the sheriff in Orange County Florida. Jonathan Pine was a bank manager before he devoted himself to join the police force. His objective was to pursue his dreams of protecting the community from the wrongdoers. It is stated that he tried to pursue a renowned suspect called Benjamin Holman. The named suspect was accused of vehicle-burglary. Unfortunately, in his line of duty, he was shot dead by the target suspect, Benjamin who later shot himself dead. On the same circumstances, the confession was made by a girlfriend to the deceased suspect named Erica Pugh. She confessed that she and her dead boyfriend were accomplices in crime. On the day of trial, the confession led to the denial by the Judge to grant her bond application because she engaged in a violent robbery with firearms. Some of the offenses that were singled out for Erica Pugh:
- Robbery with violence
- Burglary
- Grand theft
- And aggravated physical attack by the use of firearms.
The challenging judicial problem arose when the judge’s decision to grant Pugh pretrial release was revoked. The case of action behind this was that she had been identified with the possession of stolen cannabis after she was arrested. According to the findings declared by the police responsible for the investigations; she was reported to be in possession of many stolen items.
Secondly:
Orlando police department is responsible for maintaining security within Orlando, in Florida. Orlando was accredited to become a police agency in the year 1997. According to the regulations provided in the security acts, it is described as a department responsible for handling high profile security issues. Therefore, it deals with prevention strategies of crime, making arrests and carrying out investigations. It does so to ensure that there is a safe environment to allow secure survival.
The Orlando police station is staffed effectively. Accordingly, it has a team of about 700 professionally trained officers. Ideally, the department also involves the general public in maintaining security. It is feasible that a proper relation between the citizens and the police enhances easier ways of keeping security.
Proper organization with the Orlando Police Department enables it to manage every region in terms of security. It is done through institutionalizing specific units of the departments. An example is the traffic departmental unit. It deals with traffic investigations and inspection activities. K-9 Unit is also a unit in the department. It deals with matters involving investigations of crime. The SWAT is responsible is also another unit in the department. It is composed of the most trained security personnel. It is used to deal with complex situations that overcome the regular police. They perform their task using light weapons and professional tactic to deal with delicate matters as terrorists and hostage situations. Other minor units include:
- Marine patrol
- Mounting patrol
- Gang unit
- Bike unit
- Airport unit
- International drive
The department has employed a system where online reporting can be made. The online reporting strategy gives room for faster crime detection and response by the police. The process is carried out through issued emails and contact numbers. Unfortunately, some cases arise where an officer from the Orlando police department was arrested for DUI charges. His name is Sean Gilhuly. He was a member of the patrol team. However, his arrest occurred when he was off duty. He was found totally drunk in his car hence causing constrained traffic jam. He was arrested despite the opinion that police officers are expected to lead in ensuring that law and order are maintained. However, the law does not put any exceptions when dealing with breaking of rules and regulations.
