Crime Stats, Homeless Camp Sweeps, 30 New Officers By End Of Year; GPD Gives Quarterly Update

[Updated August 23 with photo captions]

On August 1, the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) gave their quarterly update to the Gainesville City Commission for April-June 2024. 

GPD Interim Police Chief Nelson Moya began the meeting showing GPD crime statistics for property crimes, violent crimes and gun-related crimes.

The statistics reference the number of incidents, not the number of victims. Within the past quarter there have 52 robberies, 181 incidents of aggravated assault, and 39 cases of rape.

Within gun crimes, there have been 32 stolen firearms, with half being stolen from cars. There have been 35 incidents of shots fired, with 16 total people shot. Three victims were shot accidentally, and there have been two people who have been victims of homicide. 

A total of seven people have committed suicide using guns within the past quarter, increasing by two compared to the last quarter. 

GPD has seized/recovered 90 firearms within the past quarter, increasing by 5 compared to the last quarter. 

GPD Captain Victoria Young followed Moya, introducing herself as the woman responsible for GPD’s patrols in the city. She said GPD held a successful gun buyback in the Duval neighborhood on June 4, taking in 40 firearms. 

Young went on to say there were concerns about “vehicles that were basically left abandoned in an empty parking lot,” and that those vehicles were towed. 

Young detailed GPD’s interactions with homeless Gainesville residents. “For our homeless outreach, this is one of our priorities that we have been dealing with as an agency across the city. You’ll notice the top picture says Grace [Marketplace], but that is actually the outside of Grace Marketplace…. That’s the far Eastern gate [and] I don’t know if you can tell, but it's been completely obliterated. It was secured at one point to keep people out, and that is something we’re constantly dealing with. I actually just came from there before coming here, going out with public works because we had to clean that entire area up. That includes securing the area and clearing some of the foliage around that conceals the individuals that are out there…. Lynch Park; again, heavy lifting by all city departments. We’re looking to get the word out and get education out as humanly as possible and as respectfully as possible to move individuals along and get them connected to services. [It’s] the same thing on SE 4th Pl, and we continue to monitor that every day to maintain and not just rest on what we’ve already done.  [At] City Hall, we’ve had a lot of individuals complaining as well. A lot of it comes with education, like yes, this is a public building [but] there are hours where the facility itself is not opened, and that is not a place for people to set up and sleep…. The 1-75 overpass, most of that area is controlled by the Florida Department of Transportation so they go out there frequency to keep that area cleaned up and they work with our officers on a frequent basis to move individuals along. Most of those individuals are transient so they’re not fully aware…. On Southwest 40th Blvd, we have a trespass authorization on file now, [and] we’ve made contact with the property owner to make sure we don’t have any additional issues with people popping up to camp. The pictures that you see down at the bottom [on the left] is 1200 NE Waldo Road. It took several months and collaboration across multiple departments and resource connections with individuals out there and then a couple of arrests because they were necessary to get to where we are now.”  

GPD Chief Inspector Jamie Kurnick talked about GPD’s statistics on hiring and recruiting. She said GPD is on track to “hire 30 sworn individuals this year.” 

GPD has hired 15 officers total this year so far, with 10 in the past quarter. Kurnick clarified that the shown statistics were not updated and that one officer had recently failed out of the field training program. 

Kurnick said 4 hires are “set to be solo answering calls for service [by] September 2, so everyones on track [and] those four will come out. The neatest part is that in August we will have 14 police recruits going into our mini-academy. Our mini academy is a five-week introduction for our recruits who graduate from the academy to learn about GPD, our community policing model, our procedural justice, and all of the things we expect of police officers when you come to work as a member of the City of Gainesville and part of the Gainesville Police Department. Those 14 will enter field training starting by September, so we anticipate by January that those individuals will be out of the field training program and will be assisting in patrol operations in order to boost our numbers in patrol, which we’ve been trying to do…. Just food for thought, we hire 30 this year [and] it takes us approximately [11-12 months] to get a person all the way through the academy [to be] trained and ready to answer calls for service. We’re setting benchmarks each year for about 30 officers a year to be hired and to continue on this trend to reduce the number of vacancies we have.”

Kurnick went on to detail schools GPD has visited to assist recruiting efforts, including but not limited to Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe College, University of Florida Navy ROTC, and Gainesville High School. 

Kurnick also said, “You may giggle at the bottom picture of Officer Steven Blundell smelling flowers in part of our recruiting. I will tell you that photo has received so much attention on our social media page. It is our #1 photo with thousands of responses…. This is our promotional stuff. When you look at GPD in our recruitment page and what we're putting out we’re trying to reflect a diverse group of individuals so that our police force matches the community we serve. We’re gonna see lots of people, men and women from all different backgrounds. It's important for us to show our diversity and celebrate that, but also when you’re looking for a job and you see someone who looks like you doing the job, it only prompts you to be a member of our PD. We’re making great strides, and I see a lot of extra applications coming in the next 4-6 months.”

Moya wrapped up the quarterly update with employee recognition. Several of the officers who received awards this quarter have committed crimes against Gainesville citizens and/or previously violated GPD general orders. 

Moya said, “Officer Milman for April, this young man has [been] one prolific patrol officer. He’s kind of the officer where if you put him on the scent that something is bad [whether] it's a person who needs to be caught or a stolen gun, and he’ll get that for you quickly.” 

Officer Milman has previously faced general order violations for his actions after Terrell Bradley’s maiming by a K-9 in 2022. Milman conducted a traffic stop on Bradley, and he struck Milman in the shoulder and ran away, leading to his eye being mauled out by a K-9 dog. After the incident, Milman reportedly said over the phone, “Maybe if these stories got around criminals will stop running from me.” Milman additionally made light of his GPD general order violations, stating, “Lol I’m up to three this year but I got unfounded in 2 and the third was me not turning my body camera footage on so whoops.” 

The internal investigation says Milman's discipline involved written instruction, a 5-day suspension without pay, training from the city of Gainesville office of equity and inclusion, removal from the field training program, and 30 hours of on-duty community engagement.

Additionally, in January, ten GPD officers, including Officer Andrew Milman, responded to a 911 call in Springtree where a woman repeatedly alleged that someone was trying to kill her. The woman did not provide her address, resulting in officers using a phone ping to determine her location. This led the officers to her neighbor's residence. 

According to the woman’s arrest report, her neighbor did not comply with being unlawfully arrested, causing the officers to use force. Milman, who wrote the arrest report, does not detail how much force was used or what was specifically done in the neighbor's detainment. 

Four K-9 unit officers who were previously paid homage from GPD received stars and medals. The officers were acknowledged on The Sky Valor in June because last November they attempted and failed to save Tyreick Lewis, who ran from a traffic stop and drowned in a nearby lake. 

Sergeant Charles Owens received a medal of valor with the other three receiving police stars.

Officer Maurquice Miller was previously given a written warning for committing a general order violation following Bradley’s maiming. The internal investigation states that Miller “used his personal cell phone to take a photo of Bradley’s injury, while displayed on Ofc. Johnson’s issued cell phone, and failed to submit that photo into evidence.”

The officer honored for valor, Sergeant Charles Owens, was previously named in a 2022 lawsuit for racial discrimination against GPD. The former officer filing the suit alleged that he was racially discriminated against for being Black by fellow members of the K-9 unit, which included Owens. According to a WUFT article, the suit detailed that “Owens allegedly threatened to grow a ‘toothbrush’ mustache and illustrated his point by shouting 'Heil Hitler,' and raising his hand in the Nazi salute three times." The suit also alleged that Owens had said the n-word. A judge dismissed the claims a year later, as reported by the Alachua Chronicle.  

Corporal Casey Walsh is the handler of the K-9 who mauled an innocent homeless woman who was thought to be a domestic battery suspect in March. 

GPD’s K-9 policy states, “The handler must be sure the canine has targeted the suspect rather than someone else.” However, Walsh allowed her K-9 to attack a woman sleeping and concealed in bushes.

Walsh was not subject to disciplinary action. At the time, Assistant Chief, now Interim GPD Chief Moya, said the incident was “unfortunate and unforeseen [but that] the officers followed all departmental policies and protocols.”  

Former Police Chief Lonnie Soctt said in February 2023 that Cpl. Walsh would “not only maintain but exceed the standard of service that has long been established by the GPD K-9 Unit.”

At the previous quarterly update, Moya paid homage to Emma Spaulding. Spaulding received the title of 2023 GPD Officer of the Year despite her and Officer Tommy Alvin allowing Corporal Brooke Shutterly to commit sexual assault against three exotic dancers under the authority of Sergeant Aaron Wagle two years ago. Moya did not acknowledge Spaulding at this quarterly update. 

Wagle can be seen in the background of a picture GPD posted on their Facebook page on August 2 from the Traffic Safety Training & Awards Ceremony. 

Commissioner Brian Eastman encouraged his colleagues to attend the GPD Awards Banquet like he did and showed respect and support for GPD. 

Commissioner Desmond Duncan-Walker said she appreciated Moya recognizing “the cumulative partnership that this is,” and that she’s “been hearing good things from the community.” She said she wanted to tip her hat to Moya and thanked the entire department. 

Mayor Harvey Ward said there’s been “lots of good news in this report” and that GPD has his support for “what [they] need to move ahead.”  

The item received one public commenter, Donald Shepard, who condemned police budget cuts, saying someone owes police departments an apology. He said, “This here is a thorn in your side…. Makes you want to give up. I’m at that point of wanting to give up. When I was arrested for supposedly saying stuff at the city commission and removed here at the auditorium, that was a thorn in my side. It was against my civil rights…. I wanna thank you, officers, for all that you do and have done…. Oh, I have another question…. I have a firearm at my house, and I wanna get rid of it. How do I do that? Could you take it out of your house and have it in your vehicle if you don’t have a license to carry that or have it in your possession? I’d like to have an officer come to my house and pick that rifle up and remove it from my home.” 

It would appear GPD has secured another firearm for the present quarter, as Ward responded that Moya was indicating he would speak to Shepard about that. 

Commissioner Ed Book, who is also the Santa Fe College Police Chief, said “Gainesville police is a top agency, not just locally but regionally in the state, and nationally…. [I’m] looking forward to [August 9]. [GPD] is a key [in] one of several alliance partners that is helping [the Gainesville City Commission] focus a youth forum specifically on the Department of Juvenile Justice. It's hosted by Santa Fe College in a week…. That will be starting at 10:00 am…. at the Blount Hall…. Gainesville police is right in the middle of making that happen.”