Northpinellas: Deputy's job is serving the community

Deputy's job is serving the community

The first community policing officer in the greater Palm Harbor area says word of her role is spreading.

By TERRI D. REEVES

PALM HARBOR -- Whether it is talking to middle-schoolers about bike helmet safety, advising a neighborhood crime watch committee about crime prevention, or meeting with a retailer who has had a problem with shoplifting, community policing officer Kristine Gilmore's workdays are never the same.

"I love my job," says the 35-year-old wife and mother of five. "I'm able to reach out to the community in so many different ways. You never really know what is going to happen next."'

Three weeks ago, Gilmore started her job as the first, and only, community policing officer in the greater Palm Harbor area, which includes Ozona, Crystal Beach and East Lake. Before that, she was one of four community policing officers for Dunedin. She has been a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy for 11 years.

"I have a two-year commitment to this community," she says. "A normal patrol deputy has a six-month commitment. My job is to get to know neighborhoods and businesses and community groups and make sure they get to know me.'"

She said word of her new assignment is spreading quickly.

"I'm already being bombarded with phone calls," she said. Most of the calls deal with crimes or quality-of-life issues. People have problems and are looking for suggestions about what to do, she said. Often, she can devote a little more time to the issues than a regular deputy.

"I attempt to be proactive against crime," she said. "Most of the time, officers have to be reactive."

For Gilmore, no crime is too big or too small. Take the case of the missing soda cans.

Residents at the Cypress Pointe RV Resort on U.S. 19 have been collecting aluminum cans, crushing them and turning them into dollars. So far their efforts have netted tennis balls and a tennis ball launcher.

They were in the midst of another collection drive when a can thief in a white truck pulled up to their recycling bin and stole the booty. They estimate the value of the stolen cans to be about $160.

"It's such an empty feeling to have lost the stuff," said Jim Jackling, 65, who uses his truck to pick up the cans and papers once a week for the tennis group. "It's a fair amount of work."

Jackling has been trying to catch the thief on his own. Lately, he has been waiting in the thicket, camera and mobile phone in hand, ready for the robber to return. He is heartened to see Gilmore.

She advises him to secure the collection bin with a warning sign and a lock. She tells him she has been checking with a recycling company to see whether it can help identify the robber. She reminds him to contact the Sheriff's Office if he sees suspicious activity.

"Don't call 911; remember that's for emergencies only. This isn't an emergency, it's a misdemeanor theft," she says.

Gilmore knows that being the sole community policing officer accountable to such a large geographic area will be a challenge in the months ahead. She expects another community policing officer to be added to the greater Palm Harbor area within a year to 18 months.

"This is an incredible job, the largest any of our community policing officers have had to tackle," said Capt. John D. Bolle, the Sheriff's Office north district station commander. "Kris has a lot of background and training to serve the citizens here the way we want them served. She has excellent people skills.'"

Bolle said the concept of community policing is not new.

"The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has always operated under the concept of community policing as that concept is talked about today. We operate under the principle that if citizens need us, we go. We have expanded our efforts with the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant to add additional personnel to work on those citizen concerns which take a lot of time and require follow-through.'"

Kathy Corr, grants administrator for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, said Gilmore's position is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office. The federal program was an initiative of the Clinton administration to put 100,000 new police officers on the streets.

As part of the Crime Act of 1994, a grants program was developed to allow law enforcement agencies to apply for federal funding to defray some of the cost of hiring new officers, she said.

The grants furnish $75,000 per position to be used over a three-year period.

"That represents about 50 percent of the cost of putting a new officer on the street," Corr said.