Quarterly Message from Chief McKeone

Published on July 01, 2022

Chief Brad McKeone

I would like to start my first message by thanking the community, friends, and fellow City of Coral Springs employees for the overwhelming support you have given me as I begin my tenure as Chief of Police. I am truly honored and humbled to have been given this opportunity. As a resident of this city for almost 40 years, this is more than just a job. The City of Coral Springs is my home.  It is where I grew up, and where my wife and I are now raising our family. I promise every member of this community to whom I have taken an oath to protect and serve that I will work tirelessly to provide you the safest place possible to live, work, and raise your family.    

July 4th is in a few days. This marks the 246th birthday of the United States of America. In the City of Coral Springs, we will celebrate this day at Mullins Park during our annual 4th of July fireworks event. Please come out and join us for this event with your friends, family, and fellow community members. To all the law enforcement officers, firefighters/EMS, dispatchers, and City staff, who will be working, thank you in advance for your sacrifice, it is truly appreciated.  

I want to provide you with a few updates and areas the Coral Springs Police Department will be focusing on in the next few months. Unfortunately, a little over 4 years ago we were impacted by the tragic event at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Recently, Uvalde, Texas joined us as a community that is now forced to share in the suffering of a school shooting that took the lives of so many innocent young adults and children. My deepest condolences go out to all those who lost loved ones and who were impacted by this tragedy. The City of Coral Springs and the Coral Springs Police Department have always, and will always, prioritize the safety of those who attend or work in our schools. 

This summer we will welcome several new School Resource Officers to our schools with the retirements of School Resource Officers Kerner and Faircloth. We have also been working closely with our new school superintendent, Dr. Vicki Cartwright. In the short time since she was selected as Superintendent, she has been a great partner to law enforcement, especially here in the City of Coral Springs. I look forward to building our relationship and making the schools of Coral Springs the best and safest they can be. 

We are in the process of establishing our SafeKeepers program. SafeKeepers is a volunteer opportunity for adults with a sincere interest in contributing to help foster a safe learning environment for students.  A SafeKeeper volunteer will assist by greeting students at arrivals and dismissals.  Eventually, this will expand to interaction with students during lunch.  We want to have positive role models for our students that helps create a culture of safety and trust.  If interested, you will need to register as a volunteer with the School Board of Broward County to start the process.  Come and help us make our schools even safer!

Traffic is one of, if not the biggest complaint or concern we receive from the residents of Coral Springs. New residential and commercial projects, along with roadway construction, have led to new challenges when driving in the city.  In response to this community concern, we will be assigning two officers to an Aggressive Driving position.  The positions will be assigned to our Traffic Unit. They will be working various hours, in both marked and unmarked vehicles with the primary focus of conducting traffic education and enforcement along the major roadways in the City of Coral Springs. I would like to introduce you to the officers who were selected for these positions, Officer Vara-Valderrama (a.k.a. VV) and Officer Charni. However, if you decide to not obey traffic laws, especially speeding, running red lights, and improper lane changes, there is a good chance you will meet one of them face to face.

Lastly, a few weeks after school, we started our Coral Spring Police Summer Youth Camp. This is a six-week camp run through our Community Involvement Unit under the direction of Sergeant Bill Capplis. The focus of this summer camp is to build better community relations with the youth in Coral Springs and the members of the Police Department. We could not do this without the assistance of volunteers and donations from our community.  Fiserv continues to be a great partner of ours and because of their generosity we can truly make it a special program.  

Thank you again for the support you have given to me as your new Chief of Police. I look forward to what we will do together as a community with the shared goal and vision for the City of Coral Springs to be the “premier place in which to live, work and raise a family.” Enjoy the upcoming holiday celebrating the birth of our Nation and remember the sacrifices that were made to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. If there is anything that I can do for you or that you need, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at policechief@coralsprings.gov.

Please connect with me on Facebook @ChiefMcKeone

Sincerely,

Bradley McKeone

Chief of Police

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