The Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit wins the Crime Prevention Unit of the Year 2022 award for small agency, less than 100 sworn.
Congratulations to the Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit for being awarded the Crime Prevention Unit of the Year! This award was given out by the Florida Crime Prevention Association at its 53rd Annual FCPA Training Conference, held October 17 – 21, 2022. This particular award was given to small agencies, less than 100 sworn.
The Florida Crime Prevention Association was founded in 1969. The Mission of the FCPA is to provide up-to-date training and networking opportunities to our membership in an effort to enhance the crime prevention profession in the State of Florida.
The Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit was nominated by their supervisor, Lieutenant Nicholas Bloom for the following accomplishments:
New Initiatives by the COPPS Unit:
• Rad Ride — Bicycle Safety and Rodeo event with a BMX stunt show and an antibullying message.
• Honor the Fallen 5K — Event to raise funds in the memory of fallen officers.
• Youth Basketball Camp —2-day camp for kids to play basketball with officers and to work on drills and skills development.
• Conrad Buckley Memorial Golf Tournament — Event in the honor of one of our own fallen officers. Funds raised went to providing scholarships in his name to new law enforcement recruits.
• Holiday with Heroes – After funding from a major shopping chain backed out of the annual shop with cop events, the COPPS unit partnered with a local business to provide a Christmas shopping experience with an officer to 50 children.
• Cookie with a Cop — A new spin on Coffee with a Cop, to reach more of the community in a fun and engaging way.
Continuing initiatives:
• Hosted two (2) Special Olympic Law Enforcement Torch Run events.
• Held several Tip-a-Cop events leading up to each Torch Run to raise funds for Special Olympics.
• Youth Academy – A 1-week program teaching youth about law enforcement and providing them training and hands-on experiences all related to the job of a police officer.
• Hosted seven (7) Coffee with a Cop events at different local businesses.
• Hosted five (5) Blood Drives with the Big Red One Blood Bus.
• Conducted Fraud and Safety presentations at different community/HOA meetings.
• Hosted our annual National Night out event, which regularly see attendance reaching as much as 5000.
• Visited several schools to bring messages such as Anti-Bullying and Bicycle Safety.
• Hosted Read to Sydney events — Kids have the opportunity to meet and interact with therapy dogs while listening to a story.
• Held a drive-through Trunk-or-Treat event for the community which had several hundred people come through.
• Filmed different safety-related videos with Koda the Fluff that were distributed across social media platforms to bring awareness to and education on topics such as Traffic Safety, Bicycle Safety, Anti-Bullying and other safety messages.
• Hosted Battle of the Badges, an annual charity basketball game where the Clermont Police Department plays basketball against the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Admission is an unwrapped toy and the toys are later distributed to community children on Christmas Eve.
• Several Stuff-a-Cruiser events to collect gifts for children in the community for Christmas.
• Numerous other community meetings and engagements that are too many to list. From HOA meetings to safety or fraud presentations, to gift giving, to community clean-up events, to tours of the Police Department .
The COPPS Unit helps to demonstrate one of the Clermont Police Department’s core values “Service Above Self”, stated Chief Charles Broadway. “The Clermont Police Department COPPs Unit prides itself on the large amount of community engagement events to build relationships with the community and prevent crime. The support and engagement from our community is second to none.”
