Forging public safety partnerships through community-based training, the Florida RCPI is a joint effort between law enforcement, educational institutions and the community.

From the Director ...

Greetings! We at the RCPI have been working diligently on many new projects that I would like to share with you.

First, the RCPI was selected by the COPS Office Applied Research Division to coordinate at least eleven national focus group meetings for the COPS Office over the next 18 months in Washington, DC, and other cities. The funding for this project is approximately $200,000.

The RCPI is now overseeing terrorism preparedness training, funded through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Training manager Fred Ragsdale has been added to the RCPI staff, and all community policing and anti-terrorism training coordination will be divided among the three RCPI training managers. You may have noticed the anti-terrorism classes advertised on our web site and training calendar over the past few months. These offerings will continue to enhance the curriculum we already offer.

The RCPI is partnering with all of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to present Anti-Gang training in their regions. Funding has been allocated to the RCPI through BJA to assist with this initiative. The RCPI also continues to partner with the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Taskforce Training program (MCTFT) at SPC to provide Criminal Street Gangs, Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Investigations and Current Drug Trends training. One hundred sixty-five participants attended Criminal Street Gangs training here at the Allstate Center in May. This excellent attendance record gives you and idea of how important an issue this is in Florida and throughout the nation.

The RCPI continues to provide training to our Caribbean partners in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Puerto Rico Training Institute (PRTI) has trained 2,177 community members and law enforcement officers during 49 training sessions since its inception more than two years ago. Dr. Ernesto Fernandez has been so successful in promoting community policing training in Puerto Rico that he has had a training building provided to him by the municipality of Caguas. Other municipalities are working with him to provide training space in other locations throughout the Island. Ethics and Problem Solving trainings recently were held in St. Thomas and St. Croix with more than 40 participants each. More training was held in the Virgin Islands in September, 2006.

The RCPI has developed a four- and eight-hour course on the timely topic of Human Trafficking. You may have read in previous issues of this newsletter about Human Trafficking seminars conducted throughout the Middle District of Florida in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Recently, the COPS Office provided funding for Human Trafficking training in target cities across the nation. Florida has a distinct problem with Human Trafficking and the RCPI will be focusing its training in Jacksonville, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Fort Myers and Miami. Of course, the RCPI also will provide this important training throughout the state upon request. The RCPI held its first eight-hour Human Trafficking class in March at the Allstate Center. A Human Trafficking train-the-trainer course took place on August 24-25, 2006, in Naples to a group of interested RCPI instructors. Two four-hour courses are scheduled in October, one in Clearwater and one at the Florida Crime Prevention Association Conference in Altamonte Springs. The Clearwater Police Department also received a grant for Human Trafficking funding and the RCPI is partnering with that agency to provide training under its grant.

The RCPI held its annual Curriculum Update for Instructors at the TradeWinds Sandpiper Resort on St. Pete Beach in April. Forty-five instructors from around the state attended the two and one-half days of training and networking. Training topics included: Human Trafficking, Managing Generational Issues in Law Enforcement, Clandestine Laboratory Investigations and an overview of Escape School — a program for teaching young children how to escape a possible abduction. Instructors commented that this was the best networking retreat to date. A good portion of that compliment goes to Lew Bender, the Generational Issues instructor who set the tone with his dynamic style of teaching. He brought even the most introverted person out of his/her shell. (Not that the RCPI is known to employ too many introverts!)

Recent RCPI conference sponsorship and attendance included: National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community; National Combating Gangs, Violence and Terrorism Conference; Florida Paraprofessionals in Library Service Conference; Ex-Offender Re-Entry Summit; 2006 National COPS Conference; International Terrorism Summit; a community forum entitled Clandestine Lab Awareness: The Dangers of Methamphetamine Labs in Your Community; and, COPS in Schools.

The RCPI continues to work with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Criminal Justice Executive Institute to provide leadership training topics throughout the state. Additionally, the RCPI continues to offer Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits for Law Enforcement Professionals training upon request.

The RCPI plans to partner with the Suncoast Crime Prevention Association on a training conference in 2007. Finally, the RCPI continues its partnership with the Florida Citizen’s Police Academy Association. Membership continues to grow and the association’s 2nd annual state conference is scheduled for October in Orlando.

Eileen LaHaie
Executive Director
Florida RCPI