Longboat PD chief attributes increased calls to full staff and training

A fully staffed department and continuous training allowed the Longboat Key Police Department to stay on top of this year’s busy season, which led to increases in total service calls, traffic warnings and misdemeanor arrests, said Chief of Police George Turner.  

From fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2024 year-to-date, data from each quarter shows ups and downs across the board, with some increases that Turner said aren't a cause for concern. 

“We’ve been busy,” Turner said. “But the rest (of the stats) you see, they’re up and down. They’re all well within the normal range.” 

The statistics are grouped by the town’s fiscal year quarters:

• Quarter 1: October to December 
• Quarter 2: January to March 
• Quarter 3: April to June
• Quarter 4: July to September

Since Q4 is not yet over, the data is not included in this report. 

One of the largest increases was in total service calls, which in Q3 rose from 4,135 total service calls in FY23 to 6,468 total service calls for that same period in FY24. 

“Calls for service are generated by dispatch and also activity of the officers,” Turner said. “And when we’re fully staffed, that’s probably a lot of the reasons for any changes.”

The department was fully staffed in Q3, according to Turner. But since then, three full-time officers left the department. Turner said he is in the process of filling those vacancies to bring the department back to full capacity at 23 employees — 19 full-time and four part-time. 

Turner also said the increase in service calls could be attributed to the public’s comfort in calling the police for assistance due to the department’s ongoing public outreach efforts. 

Traffic warnings also showed an increase in all three quarters from FY23 to FY24. In Q2, traffic warnings rose from 390 in FY23 to 965 in FY24. The following quarter, the warnings increased from 660 in FY23 to 1,222 in FY24. 

Turner said his officers give out a lot of traffic warnings from hits on the license plate readers located on both ends of the island and at mid-Key. Those cameras can pick up violations like a suspended driver’s license, expired registration and more serious cases like active warrants. 

Sometimes, the drivers are unaware of the minor violations. If the driver isn’t aware, then Turner said his officers will likely write a warning. 

“If it’s not something that’s a moving violation, they’ll just give warning and not tickets,” Turner said. “It’s more of an educational opportunity for us.”

A moving violation would be things like speeding or failing to stop for pedestrians, according to Turner. In those instances, a ticket would likely be given. 

Again, Turner said having more officers on patrol due to being fully staffed attributed to the increase in warnings. 

Misdemeanor arrests fluctuated across the quarters, first with a decrease in Q1 from 77 in FY23 to 43 in FY24. 

In Q2 of FY23, there were 57 misdemeanor arrests, which increased to 97 in Q2 of FY24. Then, in Q3, a slight increase from 73 in FY23 to 79 in FY24. 

Examples of misdemeanors could be driving with a suspended license, speeding, failing to obey traffic signs, or things like possession of drugs, trespassing and simple battery.  

For the less-serious instances, like minor traffic violations, Turner said the officers will typically process those arrests in the field. This means the offender would be given a notice to appear in court at a later date.

“The majority of those, we’d rather issue notices to appear rather than taking people to jail,” Turner said. 

Turner said one of the reasons behind this mentality is that many of the local jails are crowded, and taking the offenders to a county jail would take an officer off of patrol for an extended time. 

If the violation is severe enough and requires the offender to be taken to jail, the officers will do so.

Continuous officer training 

This upcoming fiscal year, the department won’t be gaining any additional manpower beyond the 23 employees Turner needs to be fully staffed. In his requests for FY25, Turner included three new officers, but Town Manager Howard Tipton’s recommended budget did not include those positions. 

However, Turner said the officers he does have are busy staying up to date with the latest policies following the department’s accreditation. 

On Feb. 22, the Longboat Key Police Department became accredited by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation for the first time in the department’s history. 

As an accredited law enforcement agency, the department is held to a higher standard through a variety of requirements. There were a total of 235 metrics that the department needed to address in its accreditation, which touched on things like officer safety and training. 

“Laws change, which means policies have to change and be updated almost daily,” Turner said. “Our training requirements change.”

Turner said that the captains, sergeants and accreditation managers keep officers on top of training, as well as law and policy changes. Reviewing all of those changes means more training hours. 

“Our training has definitely increased a lot,” Turner said. “We have to maintain that level of competence for every officer here.” 

Keeping officers on top of training and already looking toward re-accreditation in three years, the department is remaining diligent while patrolling Longboat Key. While there are increases in some incidents — like total service calls and traffic warnings — Turner said it’s not a cause for alarm.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the number of full-time and part-time employees with the Longboat Key Police Department.