A Case Study in Community Policing
How is Tampa's new police chief doing? Plus the week's weather and the Bay Area Navigator 25.
Today’s column assesses the performance of new Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw in the wake of the tragic shooting in Ybor City just before Halloween. Plus, the Bay Area Navigator 25, and weather for the week suggests a dry Thanksgiving. But first, the Bay Area’s best local news roundup.
CURRENTS
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TOP NEWS
Draft report recommends against consolidating Florida’s judicial circuits. WUSF
Tampa Bay home owners will have to wait over a decade to make a profit on the purchase. Tampa Bay Business Journal $
Florida Supreme Court rejects request to block Seminoles’ mobile sports betting operations. Florida Phoenix
A migrant killed a deputy. A DeSantis agency’s probe was 2 pages. Tampa Bay Times $
Republicans expand their registration edge in Florida to more than 680,000. WUSF
Palihouse boutique hotel opens in Hyde Park Village. Tampa Bay Business Journal $
Report: At least 7M square feet of office leases in Tampa near expiration. Business Observer $
Tampa again renews contract with Economic Development Council. Tampa Bay Business Journal $
Buccaneers lament missed red zone chances that thwarted comeback bid vs. 49ers. ABC Action News
Jordan Travis’s gruesome leg injury deals a blow to Florida State. The Washington Post $
TODAY’S SPONSOR
The Navigator is sponsored by Mary’s Little Lamb Preschool at 7311 N. Armenia Ave. in Tampa. We are a nationally accredited preschool established in 1959.
Free Childcare and a paycheck. We are currently seeking a qualified toddler teacher or teaching assistant. The ideal candidate must be creative, energetic, dependable, nurturing, patient, have a passion about the growth and development of the children, and be a team player. Requirements: pass a level 2 background screening, high school diploma or higher, completed or willing to start and complete the DCF 45 training hours, get CPR/First aid certified.
Interested in sponsoring the Navigator? We should talk.
WEATHER
Cooler With Chances of Rain, But Not on Thanksgiving
By Wednesday, expect highs in the 70s and lows mostly in the 60s with possible rain Wednesday and Friday, according to this week’s forecast from The Weather Channel. Thanksgiving is expected to be cloudy but not rainy.
MONDAY ☀️ Mostly sunny.
🌡️84° / 67° 💦 65% /86% 🌅 6:55 a.m. / 5:35 p.m.
TUESDAY ⛅️ Partly cloudy skies in the morning and cloudy skies later.
🌡️85° / 69° 💦 66% / 79% 🌅 6:55 a.m. / 5:35 p.m.
WEDNESDAY 🌨️ Rain showers early with overcast skies later.
🌡️77° / 60° 💦 82% / 77% 🌅 6:56 a.m. / 5:34 p.m.
THURSDAY ☁️ Cloudy.
🌡️74° / 61° 💦 59% / 65% 🌅 6:57 a.m. / 5:34 p.m.
FRIDAY 🌨️ Cloudy with occasional rain showers.
🌡️73° / 62° 💦 70% / 88% 🌅 6:58 a.m. / 5:34 p.m.
SATURDAY 🌥️ Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of a rain shower.
🌡️75° / 58° 💦 81% / 90% 🌅 6:59 a.m. / 5:34 p.m.
SUNDAY ⛅️ Intervals of clouds and sunshine.
🌡️76° / 58° 💦 61% / 79% 🌅 6:59 a.m. / 5:34 p.m.
BRIEFS
CRIME
Shooting Investigation: Tampa police are investigating a Saturday shooting in the 3300 block of West Hillsborough Avenue near the intersection of Hillsborough Avenue and Dale Mabry. Officers were called there at 8 p.m. for a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, they found an adult male with non-life threatening injuries. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the shooting. Anyone with information related to this shooting incident is asked to contact TPD by calling 813-231-6130 or to share a tip via Tip411, which is accessible through the TampaPD app. Those who wish to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward can contact Crimestoppers of Tampa Bay by calling 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), visiting www.CrimeStoppersTB.com, or using the free Crime Stoppers mobile app and select "Tampa."
Human Trafficking Arrest: Tampa police arrested Jimmie Gardner, 57, on Nov. 17 as a suspect in a human trafficking case involving a 16-year-old female. Gardner allegedly invited the minor to his hotel room for sex, which the female agreed to. Gardner purportedly offered the victim money in exchange for sexual acts. The female, however, then declined to be sexually active, which angered the suspect, police said. A verbal altercation escalated into a physical dispute, with the suspect nearly strangling the victim, who later called 911 after the suspect left. Upon arrival, officers were unable to make contact with Gardner at the hotel, but contact was made with the victim. While officers were at the hotel, Gardner reported to the Tampa Police District 1 Office, where he was later taken into custody and charged with human trafficking for commercial sexual activity (victim less than 18), lewd or lascivious touching of minor 16 or 17 years of age by a person 24 years of age or older, and battery. He was being held at at Orient Road Jail. The victim was connected to the Tampa Police Victim Advocate and other community resources.
NEWS
Nominating Commission Appointments: Hunter Chamberlain and Chad Mizelle both of Tampa and Eliot Peace of Dunedin have been appointed to Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal Nominating Commission by the governor. Chamberlin owns Chamberlin Crowe, P.A. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College and his juris doctor from the University of Miami. Chamberlin is reappointed for a term ending July 1, 2027. Mizelle is the chief legal officer for Affinity Partners. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and his juris doctor from Cornell University. Mizelle is appointed for a term ending July 1, 2024. Peace is the associate general counsel for General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and his juris doctor from the University of South Carolina. Peace is reappointed for a term ending July 1, 2027.
Interbay Closure: Due to road construction, the westbound lane of Interbay Boulevard (South Himes Avenue-Interbay Avenue) will be closed intermittently daily through March 1 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Channelside Closure: From Nov. 27-Dec. 1 Channelside Drive from E. Kennedy Boulevard to S. 12th Street will be closed nightly from 9 p.m.-5 a.m. due to road construction.
LEISURE
Holiday Harbour Tree Lighting: Friends of the Tampa Riverwalk and Mayor Jane Castor host a the annual lighting of the Holiday Harbour Tree at 6 p.m. Nov. 26 at the Tampa Convention Center Docks. Sponsored by Tampa General hospital, the event offers holiday entertainment, free cookies and milk for kids, and pictures with Santa. ICYMI: The organization’s Holiday Lighted Boat Parade (Dec. 23) is in the running for Best Holiday Lights Display from USA Today among the 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best Holiday Parade.
Cracker Country Christmas: Tampa's rural Florida living history museum, Cracker County, celebrates the holiday season by showcasing holiday traditions of the 19th century through hands-on historical interpretations, traditional decorations, and more at the Florida State Fairgrounds. The Florida Christmas in the Country is set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 9. Participants can create holiday keepsakes like salt dough ornaments and beeswax candles and participate in everyday pioneer chores like churning butter and cleaning laundry with an old-fashioned washboard. Tickets for adults (12 and up) are $14; seniors, $12; students (6-11) $12; kids (0-5), free. Advanced ticket purchase is required.
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CONNECTING THE DOTS
A Case Study in Community Policing
By Stephen Buel
If the marriage between a community and its police chief deserves a honeymoon, then the celebration of Lee Bercaw’s promotion in Tampa ended without ceremony a few days before Halloween.
It’s been barely five months since the city council unanimously ratified Major Jane Castor’s selection of Bercaw as Tampa police chief. That makes the Oct. 29 Ybor City gun battle that killed two people and injured 16 others easily the most consequential and high-profile crime of his short tenure.
Events of such visibility and magnitude become associated with top cops. Police chiefs are the outward face of their departments during those infrequent occasions when the public starts paying attention to their work.
Like most people in Hillsborough County, I wasn’t paying attention until recently. But in the weeks since this tragedy, it has looked to me like Bercaw is up to the challenge.
Naturally, his and other agencies responded to the shootings with a show of force. A neighborhood in which police were already rather visible has since received additional officers on foot, bike, horse, and squad car. Code enforcement officials also visited area businesses on successive weekends, to inspect how they were handling alcohol, parking, security, and other matters. Bercaw himself strolled Seventh Avenue, meeting with business owners and seeking to reassure area residents.
But last week Bercaw stepped into the crucible, scheduling a high-profile town hall meeting to meet with neighbors, advocates, business owners, crime victims, and the media. Bercaw’s department first launched these Town Hall Tuesdays a couple months after he took over, but the gathering at Centro Asturiano de Tampa was the highest-profile meeting by far.
There, too, Bercaw was accompanied by an impressive show of force. He took the dais flanked by three of his fellow officers, Deputy Chiefs Michael Hutner and Calvin Johnson, and Major Eric DeFelice, the commander in charge of Ybor City. Out in the audience, there were at least two police spokeswomen, plus a new neighborhood watch coordinator, and the department’s liaison to Ybor City businesses.
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Following an invocation and a brief statement by Bercaw, the chief opened up his forum to questions and comments. And questions and comments there were.
Several speakers criticized Bercaw for calling the shooting an isolated incident. “About every five years, there’s blood in the street and there’s a homicide,” said Gaspar’s Grotto owner Eric Schiller. “I feel like a broken record.”
Two area women spoke movingly about losing loved ones in the vicinity of Ybor City — a son and a husband, respectively. One of them wondered aloud why the response to this shooting has captivated the city in a way that her son’s death did not. Coming from a bereaved parent, it was a completely rational question, even though the latest Ybor shootings were of a clearly different magnitude.
Bercaw’s department was criticized for slow response times, not enforcing the noise ordinance, not enforcing the cruising ordinance, letting officers congregate in Ybor City parking lots, and closing down Seventh Avenue when the bars shut down.
Other speakers decried Florida’s attitudes toward firearms at a time that lawmakers pine to again allow 18-year-olds to purchase “long guns” and support the idiocy — my word, not theirs — of “concealed carry” and “stand your ground.” Ybor resident Christian Leon urged the chief to use his bully pulpit to talk sense to such people. Activist Betsy Braden offered people trigger locks for their firearms.
In response to this fusillade of well-intentioned suggestions from people telling him how to run his department, Bercaw was unfailingly polite and responsive. He said his department does enforce the noise ordinance. He explained that officers fan out in Ybor City because the crowds do, too.
He said he strives to keep Seventh Avenue open to cars as late as possible, but that once the bars shut down, vehicle traffic is simply not safe. “When you’re talking about 20,000-30,000 people piling out of these bars all at the same time, there’s just nowhere for them to go,” he said.
In the end, Bercaw answered most people’s questions. He acknowledged pretty much everyone — “Thank you for sharing your frustration” was one of his more diplomatic answers — and was impressively contrite on occasion, as when he apologized for slow response times during some unrelated incident.
Of course, speakers also talked to the chief about curfews, though he has nothing to do with whether Ybor bars juveniles, which seems likely, or shuts down at 1 a.m., which seems unlikely. Creative Loafing reported that City Attorney Andrea Zelman has drafted a possible juvenile curfew ordinance but informed the council it isn’t legally advisable to order businesses to change their closing time.
In recent weeks, Bercaw has expressed optimism for an approach favored by Orlando, in which that city responded to a spike in violent crime by declaring a moratorium on new downtown clubs and by introducing new restrictions on drink sales after midnight. With several speakers at the town hall asking why Ybor City needs to be so completely dominated by bars and clubs, such an approach seems likely to gain momentum.
But by and large, Bercaw’s appearance was largely about listening and not talking. "Community policing is effective when you listen to the community and apply what the community wants," Bercaw told 10 Tampa Bay after the session.
Talk of “community policing” is often hollow jargon, but in this case it seemed genuine. Bercaw went out of his way to ask speakers at the town hall to stick around and connect with various staff members, or to leave their contact information so that someone could follow up with them.
And the chief pointedly noted that his department quickly made an arrest in this case due to the assistance it received from members of the community, who shared videos and tips with officers. A second alleged shooter has since been apprehended, and TPD is actively seeking the public’s help in identifying several other persons of interest.
Can the new police chief boost Tampa’s murder clearance rate back to the higher level of success his department occupied under former Chief Castor? Can he manage a budget? Will he respond decisively when one or more members of his staff inevitably betray the trust that society places in them?
Those are tests for another day, which Lee Bercaw will eventually have to pass.
But at least for now, based on early and admittedly insufficient evidence, Tampa’s police department looks to be in good hands.
TAKING STOCK
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OTHER NEWS
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BAY AREA
Tampa Cubans fear deportation after recent court ruling. Tampa Bay Times $
BayFirst leads local banks in SBA lending. Tampa Bay Business Journal $
Gas below $3 a gallon? Florida prices reach a new low for 2023. WUSF
New nonstop Allegiant flight to depart from Tampa Bay area airport. News Channel 8
Tampa Bay researcher works to save endangered smalltooth sawfish. Spectrum Bay News 9
Aging cruise ships to call on Tampa in 2025. Tampa Bay Business Journal $
Boy pulled from burning home competes for baseball championship. ABC Action News
FLORIDA
The flu is soaring in Florida and other states, health officials say. Tampa Bay Times $
Proposed education bill would reduce testing, lower graduation requirements. Florida Phoenix
How Florida law fails to protect mobile home owners facing eviction. WUSF
SpaceX launches its giant new rocket but a pair of explosions ends the second test flight. Politico
Washington Post lawsuit challenges Florida law shielding DeSantis travel records. Politico
Ron DeSantis reveals miscarriage preceded children in marriage to Casey. Florida Politics
Obamacare signups spike in Florida as GOP-led Legislature resists Medicaid expansion. Axios
The first Thanksgiving? That actually took place in Florida. WUSF
POLITICS
Florida & national GOP going all in on early voting, despite Trump’s comments to the contrary. Florida Phoenix
Police Benevolent Association backs Suzy Lopez for Hillsborough State Attorney. Florida Politics
NBC News poll shows Ron DeSantis’ national popularity at a historic low. Florida Politics
Newsom TV ad hits DeSantis on abortion as Fox debate looms. Politico
Casey DeSantis says ‘Bidenomics’ forces her to shop at Walmart. Florida Politics
Biden, Trump and ... whales? The GOP obsesses on blubbery sea mammals. Politico
LEISURE
USF football has one more chance at bowl eligibility after UTSA loss. The Oracle
Bucs’ linebacker Lavonte David reaches franchise milestone minutes into 49ers matchup. News Channel 8
South Florida women struggle with consistency in 56-55 win against UNF. The Oracle
Gaither’s defense stifles Largo to score upset in region semifinal. Tampa Beacon
COMMENTARY
Let Florida communities take commonsense action to combat climate change. Tampa Bay Times $