by Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
Maycee Lowe is a homegrown Clermont native who has been a member of the Clermont Police Department (CPD) in one way or another since her late teen years. Starting as a police cadet, Maycee entered the Lake Technical College Law Enforcement Academy in July of 2020 as the first recipient of the Conrad Buckley Legacy Scholarship. The scholarship is in honor of fallen Clermont police officer Conrad Buckley, who succumbed to the Covid virus in 2020. The scholarship is hosted and partnered by the Kiwanis Club of South Lake.
Before entering the law enforcement profession, Maycee attended East Ridge High School in Clermont. After graduation, Maycee enrolled at Lake Sumter State College where she continues to work on a minor degree in English. She will be transferring afterward to the University of Central Florida where she will be pursuing a degree in behavioral psychology while maintaining a long-term goal of completing her doctorate in the same field.
Maycee, who has an easy-to-approach personality, quickly mentions her honor and appreciation towards the Buckley family and Officer Buckley himself. “I was floored when I learned that the scholarship would be presented to me. I did not personally know Ofc. Buckley but I have been told by co-workers that he was an amazing officer who represented the Clermont Police Department in a very positive way,” says Maycee.
The Clermont Police Department has a stringent field training program that all new sworn officers must complete before being allowed to patrol solo. After completing the 770-hour police academy, Maycee began her full-time career as a duly sworn Clermont police officer but first had to complete her field training program before being allowed on the road alone. Maycee was the first law enforcement officer to enter CPD’s new “zero phase” of the field training program. The zero phase, implemented in early 2022, is a six-week period in which new officers completely acclimate with the department’s structure and policy review. The phase includes in-house training, scenario situations that the officers must determine actions to resolve, and methods that ensure compliance with department policy and state requirements. Although much of the hands-on training is taught in the academy, CPD takes the extra step in determining the new officers’ capabilities and understanding of sensitive procedures such as using force matrix, up to and including the use of maximum effect force.
After completing the zero phase of training, new officers are then assigned an additional 10-12 weeks of patrol duties with a state-certified field training officer (FTO). “Sergeant Andy Razzo was my first supervisor and in-house instructor when I graduated from the academy and came on board with the police department full-time. Sergeant Razzo is a great instructor and taught me so much,” says Maycee. During the patrol phase of training, officers are shadowed by their FTOs while assigned to a patrol unit together. The new officers gradually work into the driving phase of training and eventually are allowed to take full control of every call for service while under the watchful eye of their assigned FTO. New officers typically rotate to a different FTO every two weeks to ensure that all phases of the training are completed, including the different shifts that officers work. After the successful completion of the field training phase, each officer is assigned to a patrol squad and performs duties as a probationary but solo police officer.
Maycee has wasted no time returning to college part-time to continue her degree ambitions. She has also successfully completed several career-related, continuing education courses that include street crime training, patrol techniques, criminal investigations classes, women in leadership classes, and homicide investigation, just to name a few. She will also be entering a field training officer class in early 2025.
When asked about long-term goals in the department, Maycee would like to eventually be assigned to the agency’s criminal investigations division. She is also passionate about eventually pursuing a position in the department’s school resource officer (SRO) program. The SRO program assigns a police officer to schools for a variety of reasons including school safety, education of the students, community relations, and direct contact with the youth and faculty of the community to name a few benefits of the program. When asked if she could change one thing in the community, Maycee was quick to point out the need for additional activities that are either free or affordable to the youth in Clermont. “A community center or similar place for young people to gather in a controlled environment is truly needed in Clermont,” says Maycee.
For now, Maycee is completely satisfied with her assignment to the patrol division. “I started on night shifts after completing my FTO. I transferred to days when the opportunity allowed but now, I’m ready to go back to nights. I enjoy days but nights are where the action is. More in-progress calls and more dramatic calls take place on night shifts,” says Maycee. Domestic violence is in every community and Clermont, unfortunately, is not exempt from it. “One of the most satisfying parts of my job is to close a case or clear a case by arrest, especially in the cases of domestic violence. I enjoy making an arrest on an investigation that I started. I get to see the results from the beginning to the end,” says Maycee.
One of the frustrations that Maycee shares with other law enforcement officers throughout the nation is social media gossip and people making their own determinations about a situation without knowing all, if any, of the facts. “We encounter those situations often and often the facts are blurred by half-truths or edited videos and photos,” says Maycee. Police officer body-worn cameras are standard-issued equipment for police officers of the CPD. The cameras are small recording devices typically worn on the chest of police officers. The cameras gather video and audio footage that is used to record interactions with the public, while also gathering evidence of crime scenes and encounters with individuals that both go well and not so well. The CPD has strict policies governing the use of body-worn cameras.
In conclusion, Maycee states that she owes a lot to her co-workers at the police department. “There are some really good people at this agency, many who have sort of taken me under their wing, but I truly owe my parents, Lloyd and Renee, and my fiancé Alex, the biggest thank you for not letting me give up. The academy was tough on me to the point that I almost dropped out once. I was bullied by some of my classmates primarily due to my young age, while an older student who was 48 years old was bullied for his age a lot, but my parents pushed me to keep going and keep going I did. It is sort of ironic now looking back but I realized that their bullying towards me was actually a deflection from their own inabilities. I have moved on from those tough days and look forward to my future now,” says Maycee.
Police officer Maycee Lowe is a bright reflection of the Conrad Buckley Legacy Scholarship and the dark days of COVID-19 that led up to the opportunity for Officer Buckley’s legacy to continue on in the hearts of future CPD officers.
The Clermont Police Department, under the guidance of Chief Chuck Broadway, is a law enforcement agency accredited by the Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation. The agency of 100+ sworn police officers and civilian staff serves a population of nearly 50,000 people, not including the daily commuters and visitors of the city that encompasses 19.5 square miles of surface area.
Visit www.ClermontFl.gov/262/Police-Department.org or call 352-394-5588 to learn more about the departments cadet and scholarship program.
