Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A team of law enforcement experts from the Center for Public Safety Management will conduct a full analysis of the Lake Wales Police Department to recommend improvements. The city will pay $45,550 to the center, which is affiliated with the International City/County Manager Association. City Manager James Slaton said the top-to-bottom assessment will result in an action list of improvements. According to the agreement for a comprehensive analysis of law enforcement services...
After 90 minutes of passionate testimonials from citizens raising concerns about local police, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to implement a pilot program with eight police worn body cameras. Mayor Eugene Fultz predicted that eventually every officer in the city would be outfitted with a camera. The commissioners approved a five-year commitment for the first eight cameras, which will cost $15,000 per year for the equipment, software, licensing and cloud...
One Lake Wales police officer has resigned and a second has been placed on administrative station duty pending an investigation into formal complaints against the officers. Christopher Cordero, 37, was arrested during a traffic stop Friday morning Feb. 5, and charged with resisting arrest without violence, threat of death or serious bodily injury of a law enforcement officer and assault on a law enforcement officer. Cordero claims Officers Colt Black and Travis Worley struck...
Judy Elaine Connelly, 71, of Fort Pierce, formerly of Lake Wales, passed away peacefully Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 at her residence. She was born January 20, 1949 in Dothan, AL to the late Edlow and Emma Alice Bowden. She was a lifelong resident of Lake Wales until four years ago when she and her husband moved to Fort Pierce to be closer to their daughter. She was a strong Christian woman and a member of Christ Church on the Move. During her professional career worked as a...
Lake Wales city commissioners agreed Jan. 19 to hold off on full implementation of a police worn body camera initiative and instead consider a more limited pilot program. City Manager James Slaton said body cameras, other equipment, software license and storage for 32 police officers would cost about $93,350 up front and about $45,000 per year after that. He also said the police department would need to hire a technician to manage the videos to be used at trial, redact...
The next meeting of the Lake Wales Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25 at the city administration building, 201 W. Central Ave. The meeting opens with communications and petitions, a time when citizens may speak about their experiences with the Lake Wales Police Department. Citizens may attend in person, but space is limited and masks are required. People also may join the meeting online and speak by registering...
Two Lake Wales city commissioners are calling for the implementation of a police worn body camera system, but it will take a third to make it happen. Despite having no firm commitment from a third member, Commissioners Terrye Howell and Curtis Gibson insisted that the possible purchase be placed on their Jan. 19 regular agenda. "Accountability is what we need to look at," Gibson said. "I honestly think it will help officers as well, it protects everybody in the event of a...
The Lake Wales Police Department wants the community to be aware of a phone scam, where the scammer is claiming to be with the police. Deputy Chief Troy Schulze said Nov. 30 citizens have reported receiving calls from someone identifying himself as Lt. Griffin Crosby and the caller ID is showing up with the police department's phone number, 1-863-678-4223. Schulze said the scammer is telling people things like "you have missed a court date, you have a subpoena issue, or you ha...
A lot was different about this year's "Shop With A Cop" event, except for one very important thing – dozens of local families will have a much merrier Christmas because of the Lake Wales Police Department. In fact, a total of 70 area children will have presents under the tree and holiday food on the table thanks to the annual program, run by the Lake Wales Police Officers Association. Normally, children and their families meet at the Lake Wales Wal-Mart to pick out C...
The Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Council will hold its third public forum on Dec. 17. The town hall style meeting is designed for citizens to communicate with the police, ask questions and learn more about law enforcement operations and procedures. The forum will begin at 6 p.m. at the Lake Wales Woman's Club, 275 E. Park Ave. Masks are required and the room will be set up for social distancing. The newly reestablished committee includes five citizens, each...
Lake Wales City Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct. 20 to appoint James Slaton as the next city manager. Slaton has been serving as interim city manager since June 2, when Ken Fields agreed to take an early retirement. Slaton has worked for the city for more than 17 years, most recently as deputy city manager in charge of nine departments. Commissioners considered other options for a search and decided Slaton had proven himself during his more than four and a half mo...
Ed Palmer officially became the Lake Wales Police Department's community liaison officer on Sept. 14. But if you ask James "Perly" Sermons, it's been Palmer's calling for a lifetime – Sermons' lifetime. The two first met when Palmer served as the School Resource Officer at Hillcrest Elementary when Perly was a student there. As luck might have it – others might call in Divine guidance – Palmer followed Sermons as an SRO when the youngster went to Roosevelt Academy and to La...
The Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Board will hold its first public forum at 6 p.m. Monday Oct. 26 at the B Street Center. Due to the COVID-19 virus, attendees must wear masks and have their temperatures checked upon entrance. About 20 seats will be available to accommodate social distancing, so participants may be rotated into the meeting to offer five minute comments. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following...
Since his appointment June 2, Interim City Manager James Slaton has worked closely with Lake Wales Police Chief Chris Velasquez to address commissioner and city concerns. Slaton recently emailed an update to commissioners along with a more detailed report from Velasquez, which he said described "positive changes and improvements that are now taking place." Slaton also said he would in the near future be bringing forward for commission consideration an agenda item with costs an...
The newly recreated Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee held its first meeting Monday, Sept. 21 to organize and get acquainted. The Lake Wales City Commission re-established the committee in August with the following purposes: - Providing a forum for citizens to express their opinions about police procedures and to receive informal information from the police department regarding police procedures. - Providing a forum for citizens and the police...
Lake Wales Police Detective Travis Worley is back on active duty after a 10-week suspension with pay. An internal investigation determined he acted unprofessionally by using profanity toward a citizen, but couldn't prove he used racial slurs. His discipline was an eight-hour suspension without pay. The investigation by Lt. Griffin Crosby concluded that "Officer Worley used multiple profane words while in an argument with Deandre Ward. He failed to maintain professional speech...
Lake Wales commissioners in a 3-2 split vote Aug. 4 took the first step toward mandating masks in businesses throughout the city. Their ordinance would not take effect until after they vote at a second public hearing Aug. 18. After not obtaining the supermajority four votes needed to pass an emergency ordinance that would mandate masks for 30 days, Mayor Eugene Fultz, Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson and Commissioner Terrye Howell approved the proposal as a regular ordinance. The...
Lake Wales City Commissioners have given the green light to fund two positions largely concentrated on improving the quality of life in the city's northwest community. Acting as the board members of the Community Redevelopment Agency, the group unanimously approved the hiring of a police community liaison officer for District 3 of the CRA, which covers the northwest area, as well as a CRA coordinator for that district. The action came during the CRA meeting on July 14. The...
As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Polk County and Lake Wales, the City of Lake Wales has partnered with Polk County government services to distribute disposable face masks to its citizens. Polk County has purchased one million disposable, multi-use masks utilizing federal CARES Act funds. "24,000 masks will be available for our citizens to safely pick up at convenient locations," stated Joe Jenkins, Lake Wales Fire Chief and Emergency Operations...
A group of Lake Wales police officers were treated to a free tasty lunch and desserts on Friday by a group of homeowners from Lake Ashton, who wanted to show their appreciation for the peace-keeping efforts of the department. "The Loop" is a five-block neighborhood of the sprawling development on the north side of Lake Wales, and home of a casual organization that organizes community events three times a month. Calling itself the Looplanders, the neighborhood group has been...
EDITOR'S NOTE: The second "rallying point" gathering is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. July 16, weather permitting at Howell Family Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Lake Wales Police Department kicked off its new "rallying point" program Thursday, July 9 – setting up a canopy tent and chairs by the lake and inviting people to stop by for a chat. "We've got no agenda We want to talk about what the community wants to talk about," said Deputy Police Chief Troy Schulze. "...
Lake Wales city commissioners are expected to discuss reviving the long-dormant Citizens and Police Community Relations Advisory Committee during its agenda workshop session at 3 p.m. July 1. The committee was created in 2011, and originally contained two residents and one police department representative. Residents were appointed by the mayor with approval of the other city commissioners, according to Interim City Manager James Slaton. The group met monthly, and was expanded...
After nearly eight years chasing bad guys and sniffing out drugs, Lake Wales Police K9 Badge is hanging up his collar. After his retirement, the Belgian Malinois is transitioning from working dog to family pet in the home of his handler, Officer Dale Hampton. Badge basked in the attention at his retirement party Friday, June 19, playing with his stuffed toys and accepting "good boys" from about 50 people who came out to wish him well. The partygoers got to take home a special...
Body worn cameras for Lake Wales police officers got put on the back burner during a budget workshop June 3, but not without heated discussion and passionate disagreements among city commissioners. Commissioners Terrye Howell and Curtis Gibson advocated for body cameras to be a budget priority, but Mayor Eugene Fultz, who previously supported them, cited budget concerns and his doubts that cameras would resolve issues between police and citizens. Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson...
Lake Wales Police Detective Travis Worley was suspended with pay Friday June 5 pending the conclusion of an active internal investigation, which Deputy Chief Troy Schulze called "the best decision for everyone involved." Worley was the prime target of a protest May 31 by the Winter Haven-based civil rights group the Poor and Minority Justice Association, which called for his termination for allegedly using racial slurs, excessive force, stealing from suspects, planting drugs a...
