officer doug weaver receives officer of the year award officer doug ...

Officer DOug Weaver receives 

Officer Of the year aWarD 

St. Petersburg Police Officer Douglas Weaver has been selected as the 2011 

“Officer of the year”, an annual award sponsored by the exchange Club of St. 

Petersburg and the Charles a. Patterson and Odette W. Patterson Charitable trust. 

this is the 48th annual award ceremony. 

doug was hired as a police cadet with the St. Petersburg Police department on May 

15th, 1989 and became a sworn police officer on november 4th, 1989. 

doug is married to Kristine and they have a daughter, Kaitlynn. 

during his 22 years of service he has worked in Patrol, Street 

narcotics, Field training unit, Criminal investigations, Street 

Crimes unit, Violent Crimes task Force, and SWat team. he 

currently serves as a Community Service Officer. 

January 24, 2011 was a heartbreaking day for the St. 

Petersburg Police department. Sergeant thomas Baitinger 

and K-9 Officer Jeffrey yaslowitz were killed, and a deputy 

u.S. Marshal seriously wounded, during a violent 

confrontation with an armed fugitive barricaded in a 

home. a gun battle raged for hours before the situation 

ended with the death of the fugitive. 

Behind the Badge -- July 2012 

See Officer of the Year on Page 5

Behind the Badge >July 2012 

2 

this edition of Behind the Badge showcases the 

fine men and women of the St. Petersburg Police 

department who have recently received awards. they 

felt the recognition they received is simply a reflection 

of the hard work and professionalism demonstrated by 

everyone in our agency and that we can all take some 

measure of pride in their accomplishments. i agree 

wholeheartedly. 

in May, we honored Officer doug Weaver as the 

St. Petersburg Police department’s 2011 Officer of 

the year, an annual award co-sponsored by the St. 

Petersburg exchange Club and the Patterson trust. i 

think all of us appreciated doug’s humble remarks 

as he commended many other officers for their 

courageous actions while under fire -- those who were 

deserving of the same recognition -- and encouraged 

all of us to remember those who gave their lives in the 

line of duty. during the Florida Police Chiefs Summer 

Conference, held in July 2012, doug was also awarded 

the FPCa Officer of the year. doug did an excellent job 

representing the department and its members before 

more than 100 attendees. 

We also recognized Robin greene and Mallory Webster 

as the 2011 Civilian employees of the year, an annual 

award co-sponsored by the St. Petersburg Police Pistol 

Club; Officer Jason harris as the Field training Officer 

of the year; and Mike Roberts as the Reserve Officer of 

the year. 

Please take time to read the articles about all of the 

award winners and to congratulate them for their 

outstanding contributions to our department. 

as all of you know, in May of this year, about 30 of us 

traveled to tallahassee, Florida, and more than 230 

went to Police Memorial Week in Washington, d.C., to 

honor the memory our three fallen officers: Sergeant 

thomas Baitinger, K-9 Officer Jeffrey yaslowitz and 

Straight from the chief 

By 

Chief Charles “Chuck” Harmon 

Officer david Crawford. i cannot begin to fully 

express my thanks to everyone who worked behind 

the scenes to complete all of the arrangements, 

but i can tell you that these events made a lasting 

impression on everyone who was able to attend. 

thanks to the efforts of Jennifer dawkins and several 

others, we have thousands of photographs from 

the Washington, d.C., trip and the unity tour, a 

sampling of which is now posted on CaRS and the 

department’s Facebook page. if anyone wants a 

copy of all of the photographs, please send a 32 gig 

thumb-drive to Jennifer dawkins, and she will upload 

them for you. 

Finally, we are rapidly approaching the Republican 

national Convention (RnC) that will be held in tampa, 

august 27-30, 2012. the tampa Bay Rays and the 

RnC just finalized the contract for the eve of the 

event, august 26, which will be hosted by our City at 

tropicana Field. Preparations are entering their final 

phases as St. Petersburg gets ready to welcome the 

largest political event in our City’s history. i know 

many of you have been involved in preparations 

and training. i truly appreciate your efforts and look 

forward to a safe and successful event.

Field Training OFFicer OF The Year 

OFFicer JasOn harris 

Officer harris has served as a police officer since 

March 10, 2008, and has been assigned to the Field 

training unit since January, 2010. Officer harris is 

a CMS-certified general instructor and a member 

of the department’s Special event Response (SeRt) 

team. he is a “point person” within the unit, who 

sets high standards of performance for both himself 

and the officers whom he trains. 

Officer harris consistently volunteers to train 

probationary officers who are experiencing 

difficulty adapting to the law enforcement 

profession. this alone is a daunting task, but Officer 

harris has assumed additional roles such as assisting 

with amending the weekly progress examinations, 

updating the Field training Manual, and developing 

and leading classroom instruction concerning 

various topics. Furthermore, Officer harris serves 

as an instructor for the Officer Safety portion of 

the post-academy curriculum and on occasion has 

served as acting Sergeant for the Field training 

Squad. 

Officer harris has effectively prepared himself 

to teach new officers, as he possesses a unique 

perspective and understanding of how the mosaic 

of law enforcement disciplines combine to provide 

quality service to the community. he constantly 

works long hours and adjusts his shift to meet the 

needs of the Field training unit. in March 2012, 

Officer harris was nominated for employee of the 

Quarter 

Officer harris’ performance this past year stands out, 

even amongst the highly competent field of fellow 

FtOs to whom he’s compared. he performs at a high 

level of intensity on a daily basis and readily assists his 

supervisors and other officers when needed. Officer 

harris is well respected by his supervisors, peers and the 

public alike, and completes his assignments with superb 

enthusiasm for the job. 

Officer harris thoroughly exemplifies so much of what 

we expect from those serving in a position of such high 

responsibility. 

>>WWW.StPete.ORg/POliCe 

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Sergeant bonnie buSh receiveS the eSgr’S 

Patriot award 

On Wednesday June 13, 2012 at 2:00 p.m., the honorable gregory 

P. holder, Circuit Court Judge in the thirteenth Judicial Court, 

hillsborough County, presented the eSgR’s Patriot award to St. 

Petersburg Police Sergeant Bonnie Bush. 

Sergeant Bush was nominated for the 

award by St. Petersburg Police Officer 

Moise Myrthil, who is currently overseas 

on military leave. he nominated Sergeant 

Bush for this award while he was 

deployed. 

the employer Support of the guard 

and Reserve (eSgR) is a department of 

defense agency that seeks to promote a 

culture in which all american employers 

support and value the military service of 

their employees. 

Officer Myrthil wrote how much he 

appreciated the efforts by Sergeant 

Bush and the staff and members of the 

St. Petersburg Police department, for 

sending him and other soldiers care 

packages while they were deployed. 

mike robertS 

reServe officer of the Year 

Reserve Officer Roberts joined the Reserve unit 

in 2008, retiring from full time service with the 

St. Petersburg Police department in 1983. Officer 

Roberts has also worked for the St. Petersburg 

College Criminal Justice Program as an academy 

instructor since 1999. 

after retiring from the police department and 

joining the St. Petersburg Police Reserve unit, Officer 

Roberts took more of an active role at the academy 

by becoming a lead First Responder instructor, 

lead Vehicle Operations instructor, and Firearms 

instructor. Officer Roberts is an integral part of the 

general Course instruction as well, where he teaches 

all aspects of non-high liability courses. Officer 

Roberts has been recognized by students for his 

dedication in preparing them for their future in law 

enforcement. Officer Roberts was asked to take 

on an added responsibility and is one of only two 

instructors for the Crossover academy, which consists 

See Reserve Officer of the Year on Page 8

Officer of the Year from Page 1 

Many police officers distinguished themselves 

with bravery that day, but none showed more 

courage and heroism than Officer doug Weaver. 

upon hearing the call of “shots fired, officers 

down,” doug raced to the scene where he learned 

officers were injured and trapped inside of 

the home of the fugitive. he and three others, 

including Sergeant thomas Baitinger, knew they 

could not wait for the SWat team, so they formed 

a Rapid Response team to enter the house. 

Once inside, they cleared the kitchen/dining area 

before moving toward the attic entrance where 

the fugitive was hiding, holding his fire until the 

officers moved closer to his position. the fugitive 

opened fire and Sergeant Baitinger was mortally 

wounded. Officer Weaver and others returned 

fire. then doug saw K-9 Officer yaslowitz’s leg 

near the attic entrance, put down his aR-15, 

jumped up on a step stool and grabbed the 

officer’s foot, hoping to pull him down to safety. 

One of the fugitive’s rounds struck the back 

of doug’s hand, tearing his leather glove and 

creasing his skin. losing his grip, doug fell to the 

floor and went into a bathroom where another 

officer and the injured deputy u.S. Marshal were 

hiding. doug smashed out the window and 

helped them climb out to safety. 

after climbing out of the bathroom window, doug went 

around to the bedroom where Sergeant Baitinger lay 

mortally wounded, broke the window and climbed in. 

the fugitive heard the noise and began shooting toward 

the bedroom. 

doug picked up Sergeant Baitinger and carried him to 

the window, passed him outside to other officers before 

he climbed out. 

the department’s SWat team arrived and formed 

a rescue team. doug, a member of the SWat team, 

volunteered to go back inside again. 

the SWat team moved into the house and was met with 

raining gunfire. they retreated outside and regrouped 

before entering the house again. 

doug and the other members of the SWat team 

exchanged hundreds of rounds of gunfire with the 

fugitive as they rescued Officer yaslowitz’s body. 

By the end of the day, Officer doug Weaver had entered 

the house four times to rescue fallen officers. 

Many police officers distinguished themselves that day 

– certainly none more than the two officers killed in 

the line of duty - but Officer doug Weaver’s devotion to 

duty, selfless sacrifice and courage under fire has earned 

him St. Petersburg Police department’s 2011 “Officer of 

the year” award. 


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St. PeterSburg Police PiStol club & 

Police dePartment name 

mallorY webSter and robin greene 

civilianS of the Year 

mallorY webSter 

Ms. Mallory Webster became a member of the St. 

Petersburg Police department on March 8, 2010. 

Prior to moving to Florida, Ms. Webster studied at the 

university of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where she received 

her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physics. 

almost immediately after joining our agency, Ms. 

Webster’s resourcefulness and value was clearly 

noticed. her primary duty is to assist the uniform 

Support division of the uniform Services Bureau; in 

particular, the Street Crimes unit. Just a snippet of 

the multitude of ways Ms. Webster has assisted the 

Street Crimes unit are as follows: she has created a 

data base and several large binders documenting 

the demographic information of narcotic dealers, 

prostitutes, wanted fugitives, stolen vehicles from 

outside agencies, and repeat offenders. She has the 

capability to assist in the identification of unknown 

suspects by conducting phone number research and 

address research. 

She maintains the stop stick and toll card databases 

and conducts criminal history checks for Ride-along 

applicants. 

Mallory is the epitome of a “team player”, and offers 

her assistance to all that seek it. She generates 

monthly statistics for the downtown deployment unit; 

creates a spreadsheet for tracking the participants 

in the Pinellas Safe harbor diversion program; tracks 

monthly Calls for Service within all three districts; 

and conducts analysis for the Pinellas County Violent 

Crimes taskforce. 

Ms. Webster constantly seeks to enhance her skill 

level and knowledge by taking several classes offered 

through the city such as: Crime analysis applications, 

Social networking awareness and techniques for intel 

analysts, Facial Recognition training, tactical analysis 

Mallory Webster with Chief Harmon 

using Command Central, and hotspot analysis 

using Command Central. 

Mallory is trained in a wide array of computer 

applications and programs that are essential tools 

to assist in law enforcement investigations such 

as: dFacts, Clear, COP-linK, Command Central, 

e-agent, Facial Recognition database and Sungard 

Public Sector naviline. these programs extract 

information from consumer report databases, city 

water records, and from local law enforcement 

agencies. 

She always appears to be energetic and motivated 

to work each day. She has a very positive demeanor, 

and is extremely approachable. She is highly 

organized and is adept to multitasking. in only two 

years, Mallory has become the proverbial “glue” that 

holds the Street Crimes unit, and many other areas 

of our agency, together. 

Ms. Webster was nominated by Lieutenant Antonio Gilliam. This is 

an excerpt from that nomination.

St. PeterSburg Police PiStol club & 

Police dePartment name 

mallorY webSter and robin greene 

civilianS of the Year 

robin greene 

Robin Greene exemplifies the team spirit and 

service excellence attributes of this award. given her 

commitment to our organization, Robin is available 24/7 

for support to enhance the safety of our police officers 

and community. While Robin is known for her positive 

team spirit, she is very aware of the intense pressure 

that her customers face every day and she strives to 

make their work easier. Robin adjusts her schedule to 

assist anyone in need; her customers often leave with a 

smile as well as a solution. 

in addition to her strong team spirit, Robin often 

provides innovative solutions. When she listened 

to challenges that members of other divisions were 

encountering with a vendor application, she took 

the initiative to work closely with the vendor, along 

with internal staff to define and ensure a solution. 

during the past year, Robin has made numerous 

contributions to the department, especially in the 

way of enhancements to the department’s Records 

Management System. given her collaborative 

approach, Robin has earned the respect of our RMS 

vendor as well as her customers. Our vendor actually 

refers other customers to Robin when their customers 

ask how they can better utilize their system. 

Robin saved our organization thousands of dollars by 

taking the initiative to develop a free-form uniform 

traffic Citation system as an alternate solution to 

using the preprinted citations. this addressed officer 

concerns regarding the multi-part forms and saved the 

organization from spending $22,000 in vendor software 

enhancements. this strategy was also forward-thinking 

as it aligned our department well with the future State 

mandated requirements for electronic citations. Robin 

led the information technology team in implementing 

the City’s ordinance changes. this was something never 

done before in the department’s records management 

system and was even discouraged by the vendor. 

Working closely with the vendor, Robin developed 

a plan to implement the new ordinances without 

compromising historical records and thus preventing 

Robin Greene with Chief Harmon 

possible legal complications. Robin also developed 

the implementation schedule to implement the new 

ordinance changes without causing massive confusion 

with the officer out in the field. 

Robin has willingly taken on additional responsibilities 

outside her role as the Record Management Systems 

administrator. She has filled the role of acting 

supervisor on many occasions and has taken some of 

the database administrator’s functions, to free up the 

administrator in order to focus on developing critical 

computer programs for the department. 

While humble in not seeking recognition for her 

contributions, she consistently takes time out of 

her schedule to write memorandums to express her 

appreciation of others. 

For these attributes and accomplishments, Robin is 

well deserving of this award. 

Ms. Greene was nominated by Frank Ullven. This is an excerpt 

from that nomination. 


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Reserve Officer of the Year from Page 4 

of teaching corrections officers the particulars of 

becoming a police officer. he is also utilized as an 

instructor for many equivalency of training courses 

that the college presents to former or current 

officers that are attempting to obtain Florida State 

Police Recertification. Beyond the scope of his 

employment with the college, Officer Roberts in his 

role as a reserve officer, volunteers his time to train 

St. Petersburg Police recruits in topics such as driving 

skills and firearms. 

Reserve Officer Roberts is a valued member of 

the Reserve unit, providing years of experience in 

law enforcement to benefit the community of St. 

Petersburg and the St. Petersburg Police department. 

he exceeds the minimum requirements of the unit 

for volunteer hours worked, having been in the top 

three for most hours worked in Fy10 and already 

exceeding the minimum hours required for Fy11, as 

well as for the number of special events worked per 

year. Officer Roberts has consistently volunteered 

to work the larger events such as Ribfest, taste of 

Pinellas, St. Petersburg Bowl game, honda grand Prix 

of St. Petersburg, dr. MlK Jr. Parade, and tampa Bay 

Rays’ games. in fact, he’s worked several of these 

events this year in lieu of full-time officers being 

forced to work the event on their day off due to such 

large staffing requirements for certain level events. 

Michael Roberts was nominated by Reserve Captain Roderick H. 

Frankland. This is an excerpt from that nomination. 

firSt annual david S. crawford “SPecial 

tribute award” PreSented 

On april 25th, national Crime Victims’ Rights Week was observed by governor Rick Scott and attorney general 

Pam Bondi during a brief ceremony held at the Capitol Building. three law enforcement officers and four victim 

advocates from various agencies across the state were recognized for their service. One of the recipients, 

detective Michael Rosa of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, was given the first annual david S. Crawford “Special 

tribute award” for his service to victims of domestic violence. the Office of the attorney general created this 

special tribute to commemorate dave’s work with the victims of domestic Violence. Major Mike Kovacsev 

represented the department during this ceremony.

the Police unity tour began in 1997 to raise public 

awareness of law enforcement Officers who have 

died in the line of duty and to raise funds for the 

national law enforcement Officer’s Memorial and 

Museum. the tour is a three day, 250 mile bike ride 

with 1,300 feet of vertical gain, ending in Washington, 

dC at the national law enforcement Officer’s 

Memorial. 

aside from the physicality and endurance required to 

complete an event like this, each rider was required 

to raise $2,000. Our team of eleven cyclists, two 

motors and one support person, was required to raise 

$22,000 to participate. With our fund raising goal 

in mind, we reached out to the community for help. 

With the tremendous support we received from the 

department and the community at large, we were 

able to meet our fund raising goal. 

On the morning of May 10, 2012 the Police unity tour 

gathered for a brief ceremony to kick off the ride. We 

were reminded of the unity tour motto “We ride for 

those that died” and nervousness was replaced with 

determination to make our fallen proud. the first day 

we rode 110 windy miles over “rolling hills” and one 

very long bridge. Many of the senior riders claimed it 

was the windiest it had been in recent memory with 

15-20 mph winds and 25 mph gusts. 

day two covered a shorter distance of 75 miles but 

would prove to be more challenging as we tackled 

larger hills. We fought our way up steep hills, using 

every gear possible on our bikes. Just when we 

reached the top and felt a few brief moments of relief, 

2012 Unity toUR 

By 

Officer Caricia Martinez 

we started the decent. a pack of almost two hundred 

cyclists barreling downhill together at speeds nearing 

40 mph was all at once terrifying and exhilarating. 

the highlight of day two was climbing a monstrous 

hill and taking a much needed break at Fort a.P. 

hill military base. By the end of the day, we were 

exhausted but excited because we had completed 

the bulk of our journey. 

the last day of the tour started quietly. the tour was 

scheduled to ride into Judiciary Square around 2:00 

pm and with 65 miles of hills left to travel, we had a 

6:00 am start. Our tired, cold, achy muscles screamed 

as we climbed the first few hills. as our legs warmed 

and the sun rose, the lingering doubt that we could 

complete the tour faded. By the time we pedaled 

into our lunch break, the mood shifted and there was 

sense of relief that we were almost there. 

all eight Police unity tour Chapters met together 

near RFK Stadium to travel the last few miles into 

Judiciary Square together. each chapter started from 

a different location but had been riding for the same 

purpose. We rode two by two into the d.C. area and 

as we got closer to Judiciary Square, we were greeted 

by bag pipers, signs and cheering. it was humbling to 

see signs with the names of fallen officers and signs 

of thanks. as we made the final turn into the law 

enforcement Officer’s Memorial, we saw a small, yet 

enthusiastic group from our own St. Petersburg Police 

department bring us home. 

it is difficult to convey what this ride meant to us, this 

year especially. We went with the purpose to honor 

See Unity Tour on Page 10 


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Unity Tour from Page 9 

our fallen but were reminded that we weren’t the only 

ones to survive tragedy. Our ride was dedicated to 

Sgt. thomas Baitinger, Ofc. david Crawford and K-9 

Ofc. Jeffrey yaslowitz but we truly rode for all those 

who have died in the line of duty. 

lastly, the riders recognize we could not have 

accomplished this without help. We would 

like to thank Chief harmon for his support and 

encouragement without which we would not have 

had a team, and to Officers dort and Steffek for not 

only providing motorcycle support during the tour 

but driving our unity tour trailer to Portsmith, Va. 

and ensuring our bicycles arrived and returned safely. 

thanks to detective Stan deckert who was asked at 

the last minute to drive our trailer during the tour 

and did so without hesitation. he went above and 

beyond assisting with bicycles, carrying luggage 

and occasionally cyclists. Sgt. Shannon halstead, 

as a returning rider, became our leader, answering 

an endless stream of questions and providing much 

needed training advice. 

to all those who assisted in the massive fund raising 

efforts, thank you. 

Police unity tour 2012 roster 

Riders 

• Ofc. Julie Bryan 

• Ofc. Michael Christian 

• Ofc. Joe deluca 

• Ofc. Matt enhoffer 

• Sgt. Shannon halstead 

• K-9 Ofc. Jeremy Krzysiak 

• Sgt. lisa Krzysiak 

• Ofc. Chrisie lopez 

• Ofc. Caricia Martinez 

• det. Brian C. taylor 

• det. Brook Watters 

Motorcycle Support 

• Ofc. Chris dort 

• Ofc. Mauricio Steffek 

trailer Support 

• det. Stan deckert

detective brian 

taylor recieves the 

law enforcement 

officer excellence 

in Performance 

award from the 

tampabay chapter 

of the american 

Society of 

industrial Security 

(aSiS) 

unitY tour 


11


12 

national law 

enforcement 

memorial week 

waShington, d.c 

maY 2012

national law 

enforcement 

memorial week 


maY 2012 


13


14 

national law 

enforcement 

memorial week 


maY 2012


15 

NatioNal law 

ENforcEmENt 

mEmorial wEEk 

washiNgtoN, D.c 

may 2012

Administrative Services 

Bureau 

emPloYeeS of the quarter 

Administrative Services 

Bureau 

Jennifer E. Dawkins officer Robert M. Lord 

Investigative Services 

Bureau 

Uniform Services 

Bureau 

Detective thaddius L. Coffin officer Meri E. Andrews 

tactical 

aPPrehenSion 

and control 

(t.a.c.) team 

receiveS 2011 elkS 

lodge unit of the 

Year award

officer doug weaver receives officer of the year award officer doug ...

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