About
the Hollywood Police Department
Hollywood,
Florida, the “Diamond of the Gold Coast,” was incorporated on November 28, 1925. The new "City" was approximately
640 acres and the first Police Department employed 10 Police Officers. Today,
the second largest City in Broward County, Hollywood covers 28 square miles.
The
more than 600 employees of the Hollywood Police Department is organized into two bureaus: Administration and Operations. Within the Operations Bureau are the Patrol Section and Criminal Investigation Division.
The
Patrol Section of the Hollywood Police Department is organized into zones which patrol specific areas of the City. This strategy provides the police officers “with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with their
particular neighborhood's problems, as well as allowing the residents or business owners of a neighborhood to get to know
the Officers who work the area. The Officers take pride in the neighborhoods
they are responsible for and enjoy meeting residents and business owners.”
The
Patrol Section of the Hollywood Police Department “handles the majority of the 140,000 police service calls which occur
in the City each year. In addition to responding to calls for service, Officers
self-initiate police action by actively searching for and arresting individuals involved with drugs, prostitution, burglary,
robbery, theft, gang activity, and other miscellaneous criminal activities. The
Patrol Units are also the first to arrive on scene at all critical incidents. Patrol
Units who initially arrive at critical incidents handle the incidents directly or, if additional support is necessary, will
stabilize the situation until support services, such as the Special Operations Section, the Criminal Investigations Division,
the S.W.A.T. Team, or the Crime Scene Unit arrive to continue the investigation.”
The
Criminal Investigations Division of the Hollywood Police Department “is comprised of the Investigative Services Section,
Vice, Intelligence, and Narcotics Unit, Crime Suppression Team, and the Crisis Negotiation Team. The Investigative Services Section is responsible for the investigation of Homicides, Robberies, Sexual
Assaults, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Neglect and Abuse cases, as well as property crimes such as Burglary,
Arson, Theft, and Fraud.”
Source:
hollywoodpolice.org
|
|
|
Rick Stone joined the Dallas Police
Department in July 1973. He served as a police officer, sergeant, lieutenant,
captain and division commander. In 1988, he was one of nine national finalists
for the job of Chief of Police. In 1989, he became the chief of police of Wichita,
Kansas. In 1996, he became the chief of police of the Hollywood Police Department
(Florida).
Rick Stone’s fiction novel, “Behind
the Gold Star,” explores “Seven days in the life of a Police Chief struggling against bureaucratic stupidity,
personal conflicts, and his department’s collection of screw-ups, nut cases, and weird happenings. Reflective of his
big city experience, the Chief tries desperately to balance competing forces in the professional and political arena of a
smaller agency. Full of surprising twists and turns, with enough sex and violence to be reflective of the front page of today’s
newspaper, Behind the Gold Star will keep you hanging on every page and in the end, the characters give real meaning to the
phrase, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”
|
|
|
|