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'Officer Down' Alert Puts Public On Enforcement Team

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 6, 2008

Updated: 05/06/2008 03:56 pm

TAMPA - Gov. Charlie Crist has directed state agencies to create an Officer Down alert using technology similar to what is used for Amber Alerts.

Crist signed an executive order Monday that says the public immediately should be informed about people suspected of killing or seriously wounding officers in the line of duty.

"We hope it's not a service that we have to utilize. Ever," Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said today.

Crist signed the order during a law enforcement officer memorial service Monday at the state Capitol that honored the 16 Florida law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2007. The dead include Hillsborough County Sgt. Ron Harrison.

The Amber Alert system was established in Florida in August 2000 as a way quickly to publicize suspected child abductions. AMBER – America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response – was created in 1996 after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was kidnapped and murdered, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Now, with Crist's new executive order, broadcast information appearing on highway message signs quickly will alert the public to report information on suspects in the injury or death of an officer.

"We appreciate and applaud the governor's order that will help law enforcement track down such a dangerous suspect," Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Tuesday.

Monday's memorial ceremony was hosted by the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police.

"Today we honor the fallen officers who have given their lives in service to the people of Florida, as well as their families who bravely face each new day without their loved one," Crist said Monday, according to his media office. "I am honored to sign this executive order to help ensure that those who would seek to do harm to our officers are brought to justice."

Harrison was shot Aug. 15 at Lumsden Road and Kings Avenue. He died in his unmarked patrol car. The shooter, Michael Phillips, 23, was killed hours later at his mother's home in Brandon after a standoff with deputies.

Harrison, a 28-year veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, had just completed a drunken driving checkpoint assignment.

The other fallen officers honored Monday were:

•Sgt. Nicholas G. Sottile, Florida Highway Patrol; cause of death: gunfire

•Deputy Sheriff Harold Michael Altman, Jackson County Sheriff's Department; cause of death: gunfire

•Lt. Corey Dahlem, Gainesville Police Department; cause of death: vehicular assault

•Lt. Delmar Teagan, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; cause of death: automobile accident

•Sgt. Karl Strohsal, Longwood Police Department (Volusia County); cause of death: struck by vehicle

•Sgt. Christopher Reyka, Broward County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: gunfire

•Reserve Deputy Joe Bill Galloway, Holmes County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: vehicle pursuit

•Officer Jose Somohano, Miami-Dade Police Department; cause of death: gunfire

•Officer Alfred L. Gordon Sr., Orlando Police Department; cause of death: gunfire

•Officer Scott Eric Bell, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office; cause of death: vehicular assault

•Wildlife Officer Michelle A. Lawless, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; cause of death: accidental

•Deputy Sheriff Paul Rein, Broward County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: gunfire

•Deputy Sheriff Donta J. Manuel, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: struck by vehicle

•Deputy Sheriff Jonathan D. Wallace, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: struck by vehicle

•Deputy Sheriff Robin Tanner, Monroe County Sheriff's Office; cause of death: automobile accident

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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