TECHNICAL SERVICES

The Technical Services Division is commanded by Lieutenant Darren Freeman a eight year veteran of the Haines City Police Department. The division is comprised of : Evidence,  Community Relations, School Resource Officers, Police Explorer Post #552, Building and Fleet Maintenance and Training.

Evidence

The Evidence Section is supervised by Lt. Darren Freeman and Shawanda White is the evidence custodian. All evidence and property brought in by officers, detectives and crime scene technicians must be logged in, stored and kept under close supervision. The Evidence Section is also responsible for all evidence that needs to go court or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) lab in Tampa for processing.

Community Relations

Members of the Haines City Police Department believe that to serve the citizens of Haines City, and to significantly impact crime, departmental involvement with the community is required. This philosophy is demonstrated by members of the department actively participating in the community and in civic organizations, such as the Haines City Chamber of Commerce, Haines City Business Women’s Association, Concerned Citizens Organization, and the Haines City Rattlers Youth Football Organization.

Department members participated in arranging annual events, such as the Haines City Christmas Parade, the Heritage Days Parade, Martin Luther King Parade and Fallfest.

Through the Neighborhood Crime Watch Program, the Haines City Police Department encourages citizen involvement in reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.

School Resource Officers

Our School Resource Officers continue to provide quality care to our high school, two middle schools and three elementary schools. School Resource Officers offer counseling to students, as needed, give classroom presentations, such as the Consequences of Crime, hold parent conferences, organize after school activities and sit in on administrative hearings when requested by the school staff.

Building and Fleet Maintenance

The Technical Services Division has the responsibility of Building Management and Fleet Maintenance. Building Maintenance consists of keeping the Police Department facilities clean, and in good repair. Fleet Maintenance is keeping the department’s 29 vehicles in safe operating condition. All vehicles are serviced every 3,000 miles, and repairs are made as needed. Haines City Police vehicles were driven a total of 322,519 miles patroling our City.

Training

Training is the most important function in law enforcement because laws continually change. In this past year, our officers received training in Bloodborne Pathogens, Child Abuse, Firearms Training, Expandable Baton, O/C Pepper Spray, Juvenile Procedures, Evidence Packaging & Crime Scene Processing, and T.B. Exposure, as well as other special classes held at Polk Community College.

Sworn personnel attended 4,625 hours of Law Enforcement training. Non-sworn personnel, which include dispatchers and clerical personnel, attended 243 hours training in their respective job assignments.

BLOODBORNE PATHOGEN

An In Service CD-ROM Training Course for Haines City Police Officers

 In November of 1997, the Haines City Police Department embarked upon a new and innovative way to train its employees in Bloodborne Pathogens. This CD-ROM training course, developed by Blue Line Learning Groups Interactive Media, is created expressly for Police, Corrections and Public Safety officers, and deals specifically with the HIV and Hepatitis B viruses (HBV).

The key features of the course are:

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standards for Bloodborne Pathogen training.
• Epidemiology and Symptomatology of Bloodborne diseases.
• Modes of Transmission of Bloodborne Pathogens.
• Exposure Control Plan.
• Warning Signs and Labels
• Record keeping, Glossary and Reference Documents.
• Self-testing Questions and a Final Challenge.

Training in Bloodborne Pathogens is generally given during the first week of a new officer’s Field Training, but can be given at any convenient time. This course is administered under the guidance and direction of the Technical Services Commander, who is responsible for the training received by the department’s officers. The course is interactive, and designed to be taken individually, normally requiring about one hour’s time. The actual time, however, varies from officer to officer, based on the officer’s previous knowledge of the topic matter.

The procedure for using this CD-ROM interactive course is relatively simple, and provides the Training Officer with a permanent record of each officer’s training, including the date and time the training is given.

First, the officer logs onto the computer, using his or her social security number and name. He or she is then shown the course objectives followed by the six topics covered in the course:

• What do I need to know about the HIV and HBV viruses?
• When will I encounter them?
• What precautions can I take?
• What should I do after exposure?
• Can I be vaccinated?
• What warnings should I know about?

All six of the topics must be covered before the officer can take the test, but the officer can stop at any point, if there is a scheduling conflict, and log on again later, taking up where the course was left off. After all six topics have been studied, the officer is given a ten-question test. The score and corrected answers are then reviewed. Should an officer fail in any of the topics of the course, that topic must be reviewed and the test retaken.

The Haines City Police Department has found this computer-based CD-ROM training program to be a tremendously useful tool, and plans are presently underway to implement similar training in other areas, specifically those involving high liability.

This course, as mentioned above, was developed by:

Blue Line Learning Group Inc.

2511 W. Schaumburg Road, Suite 116

                                   Schaumburg IL 60194                                   

Phone: (847) 884-1744

Last updated May 12, 2006