By Cindy Peterson
Clermont Police COPPS Unit Wins Crime Prevention Unit of the Year
The Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit was awarded the Crime Prevention Unit of the Year 2022 award for small agency, less than 100 sworn, during last week’s Florida Crime Prevention Association 53rd Annual FCPA Training Conference.
The Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit was nominated by their supervisor, Lieutenant Nicholas Bloom, for their many accomplishments including new initiatives like the Rad Ride, a bicycle safety and rodeo event with a BMX stunt show and anti-bullying message, the Honor the Fallen 5K event to raise funds in memory of fallen officers and their Youth Basketball Camp where officers work on drills and skills development.
• Special Olympic Law Enforcement Torch Run events
• Held several Tip-a-Cop events leading up to each Torch Run to raise funds for Special Olympics.
• Youth Academy – 1-week program teaching several youth about law enforcement and providing them training and hand on experiences all related to the job of a police officer.
• Hosted seven Coffee with a Cop events at different local businesses.
• Hosted five Blood Drives with the Big Red One Blood Bus.
• Conducted Fraud and Safety presentations at different community/HOA meetings.
• Hosted our annual National Night out event, which regularly see attendance reaching as much as 5000.
• Visited several schools to bring messages such as Anti-Bullying and Bicycle Safety.
• Hosted Read to Sydney events — Kids have the opportunity to meet and interact with therapy dogs while listening to a story.
• Held a drive through Trunk-or Treat event for the community which had several hundred people come through.
• Filmed different safety related videos with Koda the Fluff that were distributed across social media platforms to bring awareness to and education on topics such as Traffic Safety, Bicycle Safety, Anti-Bullying and other safety messages.
• Hosted Battle of the Badges, an annual charity basketball game where the Clermont Police Department plays basketball against the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Admission is an unwrapped toy and the toys are later distributed to community children on Christmas Eve.
• Several Stuff-a Cruiser events to collect gifts for children in the community for Christmas.
• Numerous other community meetings and engagements that are too many to list. From HOA meetings, to safety or fraud presentations, to gift giving, to community clean up events, to tours of the Police Department and many more.
“The COPPS Unit helps to demonstrate one of the Clermont Police Department’s core values – Service Above Self” Chief Charles Broadway says. “The Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit prides itself on the large amount of community engagement events to build relationships with the community and prevent crime. The support and engagement from our community in second to none.”
Congratulations to the Clermont Police Department COPPS Unit!
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Originally from the small town of Berryville, Arkansas, Cindy has become a multimedia specialist in journalism, photography, videography and video editing.
She has a B.S. in Communications from the University of Central Arkansas and is a correspondent for The Daily Commercial, LakeFront TV and Beacon College’s PBS talk show, “A World of Difference,” where she received an Anthem Award and Telly Award.
When she isn’t working, Cindy spends time with her husband, Ryan, and son, David, traveling and taking photos of landscapes and wildlife.
So proud to hail our Clermont police department for their community engagement. Thank you to all.