Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
The Clermont Police Department hosted the first of two Community Engagement meetings on Monday, March 2nd. The meeting, held at the City of Clermont’s Arts and Recreation Center on US-27, intended to bring informative conversation and dialogue to the citizens that the department serves.
Police Chief John Graczyk led the meeting with a question-and-answer session that included the department’s five-year strategic plan. “The police department is currently revising its mission statement and redeveloping our current objectives to meet the needs of the community – a community that has seen rapid growth and will likely see further growth in the coming years,” says Chief Graczyk.
The current per capita plan calls for 2.5 police officers per 1,000 people. The City of Clermont’s estimated population since the last US Census poll is believed to be 56,000 citizens within the city limits of Clermont. One of Chief Graczyk’s top concerns is keeping up with the growth in a manner that will continue to deliver state-of-the-art services to the citizens of Clermont.
“A critical part of our strategic plan is to make the plan a living document per se. A document and plan that can change as needs change. A plan that can be revised in a moment’s notice when unusual circumstances, such as the Covid incident in 2020 arise,” says Chief Graczyk.
Questions from citizens included the recent ebike concerns in the historical downtown area of Clermont and the fitness trail along Lake Minneola. “We are a proactive department and when we heard of the alleged ebike takeover of downtown, our department took swift action to deter that effort. Those efforts will continue and will include the fitness trail issue of speeding ebikes,” says Chief Graczyk.
Additional questions included response times to emergency calls, especially with the addition of Wellness Way, a large mixed-use development in the recently annexed southeast portion of Clermont. Chief Graczyk explained the plan to add additional officers to maintain service for the growing area. Those plans include a police substation that will be within the walls of the new Clermont fire station that will service the Wellness Way area.
Plans are underway to add a full-time social media and public information person to the police department staff. Immediate communication with the public is an area that the department recognizes as needing improvement. The position is currently staffed by a police officer who is often busy with other work-related obligations. Chief Graczyk explained that this will be a budgetary discussion later this year when budget plans for the upcoming year are underway.
The department recently added two indoor drone devices to its array of crime fighting tools. A $50,000 grant obtained through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement purchased the drones that can be used for real time indoor remote surveillance and searches. The drone is complete with a perch mode that allows the drone to rest on the floor or other conducive places within a building. This mode allows officers on the exterior of the building to get a visual of the inside from a safe distance.
The drone was recently used at a closed business where an active burglar alarm was reporting a break in. Responding officers found a breach of the building upon their arrival and utilized the drone to search the interior of the building without putting officers in immediate danger. The building was secured after the drone found no active movement and officers on scene made a secondary building search of the premises. “These are the types of programs that we want the community to know about. Programs that help keep them and our officers safe,” says Chief Graczyk.
The department is also taking steps to strengthen relationships with area Homeowners Associations and residents. Chief Graczyk reemphasized the importance of “see something-say something.” A simple slogan that encourages citizens to report unusual behavior or suspicious incidents to law enforcement.
The townhall style meeting was also a step in the direction of education according to Chief Graczyk. Efforts are being made to strengthen existing plans of youth interaction throughout the community. A series of teen related activities last summer are on the planned agenda again this year during the summer season school break. “We want our youth to know that we are here for them and are to help, if we can. We have staff that specialize in crisis intervention situations, including problems that affect our young and seasoned citizens alike.
The Clermont Police Department will host its second Community Engagement meeting on Monday, March 9th, 6 pm at the Clermont City Center, 620 W. Montrose Street. A survey that is available at the end of the meeting is also available through March 27th at https://www.Clermont.Fl.gov.
The survey is a short questionnaire that asks Clermont residents to prioritize categories that outline public safety issues, communication and trust building tactics, and a quality-of-service rating of the Clermont Police Department.
You can learn what’s happening in your city by attending the meeting on Monday, March 9.
Visit https://www.ClermontFl.gov/262/police-department or Facebook page Clermont Police Department (FL) for additional information.
