OPERATIONS DIVISION: PATROL
Crime Prevention Officer
The Crime Prevention Officer is assigned to the Downtown Unit and is responsible for developing and implementing various crime prevention, safety, and community outreach programs within the City of Bradenton. The Officer works closely with businesses, community organizations, and neighborhood groups to provide crime prevention training and safety education and coordinates Neighborhood Watch Programs, the Homeless Outreach Program, and the Business Trespass Program. The Crime Prevention Officer trains businesses and individuals in Active Shooter Response, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), and more.
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 five K-9 teams. K-9’s Murtaugh and Drax are dual-trained in criminal apprehension and narcotic detection. K-9 Blue is trained in narcotic detection. K-9 Maverick is trained in explosive ordinance detection, and K-9 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 consists of a core group of officers assigned to one lieutenant and one sergeant, who collaborate, partner, and work alongside organizations and business owners to police the downtown corridor, Riverwalk, and the three Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA) throughout the City. These officers focus directly on community engagement and involvement to enhance living conditions by building long-standing relationships geared specifically at solving issues. These officers take pride in their proactive approach to combating crime before it happens.
This unit also manages our Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). This team was created to provide an alternative to enforcing crimes. With available funding, officers can assist homeless individuals with temporary housing or provide transportation to other locations where they have people who can help. This service has been a vital part of the team’s ultimate goal of helping others.
Traffic Unit
The purpose of the Traffic Unit is to prevent vehicle crashes and enhance the safety of our citizens through proactive enforcement. This team of four officers and one sergeant work alternating shifts to provide optimal coverage across the highest vehicular volume times in our City. They respond to motor vehicle crashes, enforce speeding, monitor school zones, and participate in the enforcement of driving under the influence.
Our Traffic Unit officers are also certified to conduct highly-complicated vehicle crashes that result in serious bodily injury or death. These investigations include processing crash scenes and preserving and collecting evidence.