Violent Crime Initiatives

Crack Down on Dangerous Meth Manufacturing and Sale

Crystal Methamphetamine or “Meth” as it is called is one of the most addictive and most dangerous drugs on our streets.  Mental Health professionals have classified Meth even more dangerous than crack cocaine.  A great deal of violent crime to include armed robberies and homicides can be attributed to persons addicted to meth.  Persons making the drug also expose their families to very toxic chemicals and possible explosions and fire.  It is not unusual to find meth labs within feet of where children eat and play.

In 2005, Sheriff Parker, his agents and deputies implemented an aggressive strategy to deal with Crystal Meth. The Sheriff’s Office launched an educational program to teach citizens about the dangers of Crystal Meth and encouraged them to report any suspicious activity they observe. Thanks to those citizens, the phones started to ring and investigations began one after another. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office led the State of Florida in Crystal Meth Lab busts with the discovery and destruction of over 70 labs and 100+ arrests.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has been recognized throughout the State for leading the fight against this very dangerous and highly addictive drug.

Implementation of a Specialized Tactical Team to Focus on Violent Offenders

Sheriff Parker initiated a Tactical team consisting of eight highly trained SWAT team Deputies. The Team focuses on the most dangerous violent criminals in Brevard County, the worst of the worst. The team works with patrol deputies and agents to determine which criminals present the most risk to the community, who is likely to strike next and where. With the assistance of crime analysts, and the Intelligence Unit, the Team then develops strategies to catch these serial criminals committing crimes, place them under arrest and follow the cases through prosecution. The mission, put violent criminals in jail and keep them in jail to prevent them from preying on anymore innocent victims.

Law Enforcement Partnerships

In years past, criminals were not nearly as mobile as they are today. Things have changed drastically over the last few decades. Criminals no longer stay close to home; they may rob a convenience store in Melbourne this morning, and commit a homicide in Titusville that same night. This mobility has added new challenges to the Law Enforcement Community.

What this means is, the Police Chiefs and our Sheriff must be able to communicate, build partnerships, create task forces and share information seamlessly. Not only with each other, but with State and Federal Law Enforcement agencies as well.

The past few years have brought several very successful partnerships in Brevard County. Joint operations such as Operation Take Back, Operation Cease Fire, the Anti-Gang Partnership and Game Over have produced tremendous results. Violent Crime is on the rise throughout the Country, Law Enforcement Agencies need to be creative and participate in partnerships to share information, manpower, experience and resources. We are much stronger, more efficient and more effective when we work together as one team.

Operation Cease Fire

Implemented in 2005, Operation Cease Fire is one of the most successful partnerships in the history of Brevard County. Sheriff Parker and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office partnered with State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, the City Police Chiefs, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The partnership specifically targets upper level drug dealers, criminals that deal in illegal firearms and criminals that use firearms in the commission of a crime. Due to the serious nature of these offenses, many of these cases are diverted to the Federal Court System where the prison sentences are more severe and prisoners are required to serve 100% of the time.

These particular criminals are known to be openly violent, have lengthy criminal histories and would most certainly continue to engage in violent criminal behavior unless caught. Operation Cease Fire has been very successful in bringing these criminals to justice, successfully prosecuting them and putting them away in Prison. Operation Cease Fire is making a real difference in Brevard County.

Gang Violence Prevention Initiatives

Gang activity is increasing in throughout the State of Florida. Although some in Brevard County may feel gang activity is not yet a big problem, we need to be vigilant against all possible gang activity to prevent increasing gang violence that seems so prevalent in other counties. By recognizing gang activity early, we can deter gangs from engaging in criminal activity and prevent the formation of new gangs.

In 2006, we assigned an agent as our Gang Specialist to recognize and compile all known information on gangs and gang activity in Brevard County. This deputy/agent became the central point of contact for information sharing for all law enforcement agencies in Brevard County.

Next, we created the “Anti-Gang Partnership” consisting of approximately 60 members throughout Brevard County. Our partners in this effort include all City Police Departments in Brevard County, the State Attorney’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Juvenile Detention Center, Crosswinds Youth Services, the FBI and representatives from the Military. Members of the partnership meet monthly at the Sheriff’s Office to discuss the newest information on gangs and gang activity in Brevard County and areas that surround our county.

In 2006, we also created an Inmate Work Program called “Graffiti Busters”.  This program uses jail inmates to work under the direct supervision of a Sheriff’s Office employee to clean up and remove graffiti from our communities. All Police Chiefs and Sheriff’s personnel have been given a graffiti hotline number (633-0245) that they and citizens can call to report any graffiti they see. Inmates are quickly dispatched from the jail to any location in the county with no-cost recycled county paint to remove and/or repaint the affected areas. Gangs use graffiti to communicate with one another, establish territories and recruit new members. By quickly removing gang graffiti, we are not only improving the beauty of our communities, we are preventing gang activity.

In early 2008, we initiated a new Violent Crime and Gang Prevention Task Force called “Operation Game Over”. The Board of Directors for this Task Force consists of Sheriff Jack Parker, State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, Melbourne Police Chief Don Carey, Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger, Cocoa Police Chief Mark Klayman, Titusville Police Chief Tony Bollinger and Danny Banks of FDLE. Sheriff Parker swore in Police Officers from around the county as deputy sheriffs to give them countywide jurisdiction. Those police officers and several specially trained deputy sheriff’s, highly skilled analysts and support staff are all working together on this very special team to focus on the most violent criminals in our county.

Fighting gang activity is going to be a challenge for many states to include Florida in the coming years. However, there is no doubt in my mind that all law enforcement agencies in Brevard County are working together and taking the necessary steps to reduce the threat for our citizens in Brevard County.

Creation of More Jail Space

Ensuring our county has adequate jail space is one of the most important things a County Commission and County Sheriff can do to keep its citizens safe. Deputy Sheriff’s and Police Officers and are doing their part to keep our community safe. Every year, law enforcement officers in our county perform quality investigations and make thousands of arrests. In fact, in 2007, there were more than 23,000 arrests in Brevard County right here in Brevard County.

Several years ago, law enforcement officers were very frustrated with how quickly criminals were released from the jail due to jail overcrowding. In the past 2 years we have been able to build more than 750 additional beds at the jail almost doubling its size.  While building jails is not glamorous, it is a very important and real solution to keeping criminals off of our streets.