For many residents, law enforcement is not the first thing that comes to mind when seeking help outside of dealing with crime. But for many residents, the members of the St. Cloud Police Community Engagement Team, as part of the larger Community Policing Division, are often the best source for help when faced with life’s difficulties.
Led for the last nine years by Officer Lin Badman-Paton, her five officers brought on thanks to funding from the COPS grant perform a wide variety of crime prevention training and activities for the community to make them safer and help decrease crime in St. Cloud. Among the long list of education and resources that can be provided by the Community Engagement Team, in collaboration with other offices within the division, are self-defense training for women, “scam proof ” training for senior citizens, providing information on child safety programs, and even assisting with proper adjustment of child car seats. In addition to working directly with residents, the team is active with local organizations, schools, businesses, and other St. Cloud stakeholders.
All of these activities lead to collaboration and open communication between the police department and the community to build positive relationships, enhance trust, and ensure a safer environment for all residents.
“The efforts of these officers serve to prevent crimes before they happen, which is what community policing is all about,” said St. Cloud Police Chief Doug Goerke.
Two very impactful programs of the department, reinforced among all sworn police officers on the force and 911 dispatchers, are Senior Watch and the Persons with Disability Registry.
Senior Watch is focused on residents aged 60 and older who primarily live alone, with no family in the area, and might not leave their homes regularly. Officers can visit seniors at their homes, understand any health issues they might have, ensure they are getting along all right, and are safe from exploitation and fraud.
The Persons with Disabilities Registry enables residents and their family members to identify individuals who might need special consideration in the event of an emergency or during calls for police service. The aim is to identify those individuals beforehand who might have limited capability to communicate effectively with first responders.
Hand-in-hand with both programs is the Guardian Lockbox Program which enables first responders to assist individuals with limited or no mobility. Also available to residents, through the Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office is Project Lifesaver, for “at risk “individuals who are prone to life-threatening behavior of wandering.
While not part of the Community Engagement Team, the department’s Victim Advocate, Nicole Segarra, works with the team and other members of the department on a daily basis. She automatically responds when certain crimes occur, most often with her official therapy dog George, but also responds anytime officers contact her when they think she can help. She has been with the department for one year, coming over from the Osceola Sheriff ’s Office.
“George can really help put victims at ease, especially children,” said Segarra.
In her role, Segarra sees the unmet needs of crime victims, and works with a number of community and faith-based agencies, such as Help Now and a Place for Grace, to obtain temporary shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and other needs.
“The most challenging needs for victims are longer-term housing, reliable transportation, and immediate financial help,” said Segarra.
For more information on the Community Engagement Team, see https://bit.ly/3Io9fJk.
