OPERATIONS DIVISION: PATROL

Crossing Guards

Our Crossing Guards provide a friendly face to students on their way to or from school around the City, including Sugg Middle School, Ballard Elementary School, Rogers Elementary School, Manatee Elementary School, J.P. Miller Elementary School, Sea Breeze Elementary School, and Moody Elementary School. Additionally, several crossing guards assist students who attend Prine Elementary, Palma Sola Elementary, and King Middle School. 

Honor Guard

Bradenton PD’s Honor Guard has been active for more than 35 years. It was established to provide honors for officers killed in the line of duty and has transitioned into a ceremonial unit over time. The Honor Guard participates in intricate details inherent to line-of-duty deaths for fallen law enforcement officers and performs traditional color guard functions at parades, ceremonies, and charity functions.

K-9 Unit

Bradenton PD currently deploys three K9 teams. K9 Striker is dual-trained in explosive ordinance detection and apprehension. K9 Zeke is trained in apprehension. And K9 Liberty is trained in locating missing persons. Our teams go through a rigorous 480-hour handler course which prepares them for the various situations they will encounter during their tours of duty. The teams train regularly to ensure they are ready for deployment at any moment and re-certify annually to ensure they maintain the highest level of proficiency.

School Resource Officers

The department provides SROs for Manatee High School, Sugg Middle School, and Manatee Elementary School. SROs increase interaction between law enforcement, students, school staff, and parents. This liaison between our agency and the School District of Manatee County provides a faster response and resolution to minor instances, preventing them from developing into something more significant. A typical day for an SRO may consist of consulting with school staff about the day’s events, investigating crimes that occur on campus, providing conflict resolution between students, giving advice to a troubled student, teaching law-enforcement-related topics to students in a classroom setting, and build positive, lasting relationships that continue long after the student has moved up or graduated.

One of the highlights of the year is our chance to acknowledge young student leaders as Safety Patrol Officers. As school-age leaders in traffic safety, they teach other students about safety on a peer-to-peer basis. They also serve as models for the younger children who look up to them.

Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)

The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team comprises officers and detectives who serve in a dual role. Each elite team member is equipped and able to respond directly to the scene of an incident for immediate deployment to unusual occurrences, including barricaded suspects, high-risk search warrants, and other special assignments. SWAT team members train regularly and work to stay in top physical form. Members train on average 16 hours a month and participate in at least one full week of training per year.

Support Services Unit

Support Services comprises a core group of officers who collaborate, partner, and work alongside organizations and business owners to police the downtown corridor, Riverwalk, and the three Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA). These officers focus on community engagement and involvement to enhance living conditions by building long-standing relationships to solve issues. This unit also manages our Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), created to provide an alternative to enforcing crimes. With available funding, officers assist homeless individuals with temporary housing or provide transportation to other locations where they have people who can help.