Post by Chuck McCue on Feb 7, 2023 8:04:24 GMT -5
July 2023
Greetings,
Daniel Scott Turpin was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant. He was previously assigned to Downtown CAPE, and is now the leader of a patrol squad on Evening Watch...
City leaders attended a hurricane exercise at the Casa Marina...
Department members attended the last Active Shooter training day for this year. They also attended training for the use of Narcan for overdose victims. Every officer now carries a dose and is trained in its use...
July 4th events were held successfully, and there were no incidents. Crowd size was moderate again this year.
We will be beginning class 49 of the Citizen Police Academy on August 24. We are still taking applications...
The department will be distributing back-to-school safety tips regarding traffic safety via social media this week and next week.
We currently have five officer vacancies and three dispatch vacancies. There are now four part-time officers, and they are doing a great job helping us out with shift coverages.
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department was notified by the Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Program and the Florida Department of Transportation that we placed 1st based on our agency’s size category in the Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Traffic Safety Challenge. We competed against 38 other agencies! We were recognized in an awards ceremony on Friday, July 28, in Orlando, Florida. This challenge recognized our efforts in developing and implementing a comprehensive traffic safety program that may make a significant and positive impact in our community by reducing traffic-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities. We accomplished this despite the temporary reassignment of traffic officers to patrol duties because of staffing shortages due to retirements. All of our officers have embraced traffic enforcement/safety as evidenced by this award. We sent five of our top performers to accept the award on the department’s behalf... Traffic safety will always remain a priority for this agency!
I attached two interesting articles I would like you to read to show how truly busy we are each year. Both national stories, one in 2007 and one last week (2023) rating Jacksonville Beach as NUMBER 1 in the US for visitors.
www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/florida-california-popular-vacations-america-book-right-now
www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2011/08/06/daily-beast-lists-jacksonville-beach-most-popular-beach-us/15894172007/
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343
----------
March 2023
All,
We made a second arrest in the nationally publicized Bridegan homicide in March ... The current husband of the ex-wife of the victim was arrested for 1st Degree Murder among other serious charges. The case is still under active investigation, and the search for justice continues.
Paid parking began this month with additional paid parking areas towards the north end of the Central Business District. Details of the program are on the City and Police Department website, including the resident parking program.
This month, we received numerous parking complaints. One complaint specifically was concerning illegally parked cars in the Downtown area. We had already been increasing enforcement in the area. Parking tickets from January 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, numbered 198 citywide, not including paid parking lots. During the same period in 2023, 491 tickets were issued citywide with most issued in the Downtown area. For example, over St. Patrick’s weekend, 107 tickets were issued citywide with 88 issued in the Downtown area. This effort will continue indefinitely.
Our officers assisted Governor Ron DeSantis’ protective detail during his visit to Jacksonville Beach. ...
Two part-time officers are progressing well through training. If they finish training, the department will employ three part-time officers, the most in 15 years. They are an incredible, cost-effective asset for us.
Citizen Police Academy Class 48 began this month.
As most of you know, Corporal William “Bill” Eierman was shot in the line of duty in August of 2018. He returned to full duty this month. We are so happy to have him back!...
Our Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s countywide task force (JSO CPR Team) conducted another Airbnb raid. There were approximately 40 people, many of them juveniles, holding a house party at the rental property. We recovered 10 guns and made numerous arrests. SIU and JSO CPR are now integrated to coordinate efforts and enforcement countywide.
We now have two civilian, full-time property/evidence officer positions (instead of one full-time and one part-time positions). This move will allow us to have more property-room coverage in this high-liability area. Also, we have reclassified the property room positions to also include full Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) duties. This will give much needed relief to sworn Crime Scene Unit (CSU) personnel year-round. Their duties will include alternating on-call status, full crime scene processing, and additional response capabilities to major crime scenes!
We currently have five officer vacancies, with one candidate processing. Police departments nationwide are now feeling the effects of very low applicant pool. We have been insulated from this problem for a few years, but as I discussed in the past, applicant shortages have caught up with us.
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343
----------
January 2023
All,
Through outstanding investigative efforts by Patrol Officer Shane Jarman, Marcela Marabelli was arrested on January 26th in Missoula, Montana, on a felony warrant for Exploitation of the Elderly and Theft from a person over 65. Officer Jarman's relentless efforts in this case uncovered Marabelli defrauded our victim, a disabled 83-year-old male, for approximately $140,000. Protect yourself by planning ahead to safeguard your assets and to ensure your wishes are followed. Talk to an attorney, your financial advisor, or someone at your financial institution about the best options for you...
The 26.2 with Donna will be running through our city on Sunday, February 5th. Even though the route is mainly on 1st and 2nd Street, North all avenues east of 3rd Street, North between Beach Boulevard and 20th Avenue will be limited to vehicular traffic. We will have officers stationed at intersections and will move vehicles across as runner traffic allows ...
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department and Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office announced an arrest in the February 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan. On February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan was driving home from a planned “date night” with his children. On Wednesday nights, Jared would take his then-9-year-old twins to dinner with their 2-year-old half-sister. He had just dropped his twins off at their mother’s home and was driving to his own home on dark area of Sanctuary Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach. Jared came upon a tire blocking his travel route. That tire was purposely placed there to make him stop. After putting on his hazard lights and placing his car in park, he opened his door to presumably move the tire out of the road. It was then that he was gunned down in cold blood. His 2-year-old daughter remained strapped in her car seat in the back. Nothing was stolen from him and this was a planned and targeted ambush and murder. For almost a year we have investigated the case, seeking to answer the many questions surrounding Jared’s murder and most importantly, to answer the question “who killed Jared?” Henry Tenon, was arrested for the following crimes: Conspiracy to Commit Murder; Second-Degree Murder with a Weapon; Accessory After the Fact to a Capital Felony; and Child Abuse. He did not act alone and the case continues...
In January, 42 of our officers attended annual Mobile Field Force training. Mobile Field Force is responsible for providing a rapid, organized response to events requiring specialized techniques to restore civil order and public safety. We continue to train our officers and supervisors to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to be prepared for any incident they may face in today’s ever-changing environment...
We responded with JFRD to a structure fire which was fully involved. There was a fatality in this fire where one resident perished. A General Investigations Detective worked with the state fire marshal to investigate the blaze. We are still waiting on the results of the investigation, but initial findings indicate the fire was accidental...
Our final rotation of officers returned from Sanibel Island after spending their Christmas assisting in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian. Officer Kuusela who deployed with the last group wrote: “There are signs of total devastation throughout the island. You see cars with buckets of sand all over the floor board, dashboard, and rest of the interiors. There were mangled fences and buildings everywhere. In some cases all that remained where a home once stood is a piece of it's foundation or a handle from a water faucet. The devastation was far greater than you could imagine.” It’s been an honor to assist in the relief efforts for Sanibel PD. Our officers have worked with so many wonderful agencies across the state over the prior six weeks...
Senior Communications Officer (dispatcher) Rachael Bennett and Officer Homer Morodomi retired after 20 and 25 years of service respectively. We currently have three vacant officer positions and four vacant communications officer positions. We have a few viable candidates for each position. One police officer washed out of the training program, one resigned in the first phase of training (was having problems performing), and the third position was from the retirement mentioned above. In addition, I have received two formal notifications reference retirements in 2023 with another two possible this year. We continue to perform much better than most agencies, but recruiting qualified applicants continues to be challenging. I am especially concerned about recruiting for Communications Officers, which is a nationwide problem.
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343
Greetings,
Daniel Scott Turpin was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant. He was previously assigned to Downtown CAPE, and is now the leader of a patrol squad on Evening Watch...
City leaders attended a hurricane exercise at the Casa Marina...
Department members attended the last Active Shooter training day for this year. They also attended training for the use of Narcan for overdose victims. Every officer now carries a dose and is trained in its use...
July 4th events were held successfully, and there were no incidents. Crowd size was moderate again this year.
We will be beginning class 49 of the Citizen Police Academy on August 24. We are still taking applications...
The department will be distributing back-to-school safety tips regarding traffic safety via social media this week and next week.
We currently have five officer vacancies and three dispatch vacancies. There are now four part-time officers, and they are doing a great job helping us out with shift coverages.
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department was notified by the Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Program and the Florida Department of Transportation that we placed 1st based on our agency’s size category in the Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Traffic Safety Challenge. We competed against 38 other agencies! We were recognized in an awards ceremony on Friday, July 28, in Orlando, Florida. This challenge recognized our efforts in developing and implementing a comprehensive traffic safety program that may make a significant and positive impact in our community by reducing traffic-related crashes, injuries, and fatalities. We accomplished this despite the temporary reassignment of traffic officers to patrol duties because of staffing shortages due to retirements. All of our officers have embraced traffic enforcement/safety as evidenced by this award. We sent five of our top performers to accept the award on the department’s behalf... Traffic safety will always remain a priority for this agency!
I attached two interesting articles I would like you to read to show how truly busy we are each year. Both national stories, one in 2007 and one last week (2023) rating Jacksonville Beach as NUMBER 1 in the US for visitors.
www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/florida-california-popular-vacations-america-book-right-now
www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2011/08/06/daily-beast-lists-jacksonville-beach-most-popular-beach-us/15894172007/
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343
----------
March 2023
All,
We made a second arrest in the nationally publicized Bridegan homicide in March ... The current husband of the ex-wife of the victim was arrested for 1st Degree Murder among other serious charges. The case is still under active investigation, and the search for justice continues.
Paid parking began this month with additional paid parking areas towards the north end of the Central Business District. Details of the program are on the City and Police Department website, including the resident parking program.
This month, we received numerous parking complaints. One complaint specifically was concerning illegally parked cars in the Downtown area. We had already been increasing enforcement in the area. Parking tickets from January 1, 2022, to March 31, 2022, numbered 198 citywide, not including paid parking lots. During the same period in 2023, 491 tickets were issued citywide with most issued in the Downtown area. For example, over St. Patrick’s weekend, 107 tickets were issued citywide with 88 issued in the Downtown area. This effort will continue indefinitely.
Our officers assisted Governor Ron DeSantis’ protective detail during his visit to Jacksonville Beach. ...
Two part-time officers are progressing well through training. If they finish training, the department will employ three part-time officers, the most in 15 years. They are an incredible, cost-effective asset for us.
Citizen Police Academy Class 48 began this month.
As most of you know, Corporal William “Bill” Eierman was shot in the line of duty in August of 2018. He returned to full duty this month. We are so happy to have him back!...
Our Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s countywide task force (JSO CPR Team) conducted another Airbnb raid. There were approximately 40 people, many of them juveniles, holding a house party at the rental property. We recovered 10 guns and made numerous arrests. SIU and JSO CPR are now integrated to coordinate efforts and enforcement countywide.
We now have two civilian, full-time property/evidence officer positions (instead of one full-time and one part-time positions). This move will allow us to have more property-room coverage in this high-liability area. Also, we have reclassified the property room positions to also include full Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) duties. This will give much needed relief to sworn Crime Scene Unit (CSU) personnel year-round. Their duties will include alternating on-call status, full crime scene processing, and additional response capabilities to major crime scenes!
We currently have five officer vacancies, with one candidate processing. Police departments nationwide are now feeling the effects of very low applicant pool. We have been insulated from this problem for a few years, but as I discussed in the past, applicant shortages have caught up with us.
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343
----------
January 2023
All,
Through outstanding investigative efforts by Patrol Officer Shane Jarman, Marcela Marabelli was arrested on January 26th in Missoula, Montana, on a felony warrant for Exploitation of the Elderly and Theft from a person over 65. Officer Jarman's relentless efforts in this case uncovered Marabelli defrauded our victim, a disabled 83-year-old male, for approximately $140,000. Protect yourself by planning ahead to safeguard your assets and to ensure your wishes are followed. Talk to an attorney, your financial advisor, or someone at your financial institution about the best options for you...
The 26.2 with Donna will be running through our city on Sunday, February 5th. Even though the route is mainly on 1st and 2nd Street, North all avenues east of 3rd Street, North between Beach Boulevard and 20th Avenue will be limited to vehicular traffic. We will have officers stationed at intersections and will move vehicles across as runner traffic allows ...
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department and Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office announced an arrest in the February 2022 murder of Jared Bridegan. On February 16, 2022, Jared Bridegan was driving home from a planned “date night” with his children. On Wednesday nights, Jared would take his then-9-year-old twins to dinner with their 2-year-old half-sister. He had just dropped his twins off at their mother’s home and was driving to his own home on dark area of Sanctuary Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach. Jared came upon a tire blocking his travel route. That tire was purposely placed there to make him stop. After putting on his hazard lights and placing his car in park, he opened his door to presumably move the tire out of the road. It was then that he was gunned down in cold blood. His 2-year-old daughter remained strapped in her car seat in the back. Nothing was stolen from him and this was a planned and targeted ambush and murder. For almost a year we have investigated the case, seeking to answer the many questions surrounding Jared’s murder and most importantly, to answer the question “who killed Jared?” Henry Tenon, was arrested for the following crimes: Conspiracy to Commit Murder; Second-Degree Murder with a Weapon; Accessory After the Fact to a Capital Felony; and Child Abuse. He did not act alone and the case continues...
In January, 42 of our officers attended annual Mobile Field Force training. Mobile Field Force is responsible for providing a rapid, organized response to events requiring specialized techniques to restore civil order and public safety. We continue to train our officers and supervisors to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to be prepared for any incident they may face in today’s ever-changing environment...
We responded with JFRD to a structure fire which was fully involved. There was a fatality in this fire where one resident perished. A General Investigations Detective worked with the state fire marshal to investigate the blaze. We are still waiting on the results of the investigation, but initial findings indicate the fire was accidental...
Our final rotation of officers returned from Sanibel Island after spending their Christmas assisting in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian. Officer Kuusela who deployed with the last group wrote: “There are signs of total devastation throughout the island. You see cars with buckets of sand all over the floor board, dashboard, and rest of the interiors. There were mangled fences and buildings everywhere. In some cases all that remained where a home once stood is a piece of it's foundation or a handle from a water faucet. The devastation was far greater than you could imagine.” It’s been an honor to assist in the relief efforts for Sanibel PD. Our officers have worked with so many wonderful agencies across the state over the prior six weeks...
Senior Communications Officer (dispatcher) Rachael Bennett and Officer Homer Morodomi retired after 20 and 25 years of service respectively. We currently have three vacant officer positions and four vacant communications officer positions. We have a few viable candidates for each position. One police officer washed out of the training program, one resigned in the first phase of training (was having problems performing), and the third position was from the retirement mentioned above. In addition, I have received two formal notifications reference retirements in 2023 with another two possible this year. We continue to perform much better than most agencies, but recruiting qualified applicants continues to be challenging. I am especially concerned about recruiting for Communications Officers, which is a nationwide problem.
Gene Paul N. Smith
Chief of Police
Jacksonville Beach Police Department
904-247-6343