Our Mission...

Members of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office are committed to excellence in service through teamwork and community involvement in order to promote a safe and secure environment

We will treat all people with courtesy and respect reflecting the highest ideals of professionalism while providing effective and efficient law enforcement services.

We will provide fair and impartial treatment to all people demonstrating care, concern and understanding of each person's situation.

As a united team, we are committed to innovation and excellence in order to meet the needs of the community.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office
is dedicated to
Integrity, Respect, Service and Fairness            941-861-5800

...Support Your Local Police...

...Join The Sarasota Police Department... The Sarasota Police Department, made up of 204 sworn Officers and 64 civilian staff, headed by Chief Peter J. Abbott. All four Department Divisions along with the Internal Affairs Unit, Fiscal Control Unit, Payroll and Personnel, and the Public Information Office report directly to the Office of the Chief of Police. The Office of the Chief of Police can be reached at (941) 954-7002, Fax # (941) 954-7034. Deputy Chief Edward Whitehead is second in command and is responsible for the Intelligence Unit, Homeland Security, Organized Crime, and Special Projects within the Sarasota Police Department. Deputy Chief Whitehead can be reached at (941) 954-7012, Fax #(941) 954-7353. The Department is made up of four Divisions. Each division is commanded by a Police Captain. Division Commander Telephone Uniform Services Captain Stan Duncan 941-954-7010 Criminal Investigations Captain Thomas Laracey 941-954-7052 Professional Standards Captain Mikel Hollaway 941-954-7008 Support Services Captain Larry Kimball 941-954-7031 The Department currently has 11 Lieutenants, 24 Sergeants, and 34 Detectives. The Police Department Headquarters Building is located at 2050 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, Florida 34237. Telephone Number: 941-954-7025 Watch "On Patrol with SPD" on Access channel 19 every night at 7:30pm and 10:30pm everyday unless cancelled by special programming. Chief Peter Abbott is your host for an exciting and interesting look at the Sarasota Police Department. The fast paced, magazine style program highlights the activities of the Department. "On Patrol" features segments on crime prevention, training, neighborhood involvement and special reports on the Department's many different units, including SWAT, Dive Team, Explosive Materials Unit , and Marine Patrol activities plus many other interesting features. *For complete info on the Sarasota Police Department, 'click on' the scgov.net logo*...

Joseph Smith reads a statement to the court

Carlie's Killer Gets Death Sentence...

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/AP) -

	Sarasota's McIntosh Middle School student, Carlie Brucia

Katherine Harris, Parents Introduce "Carlie's Law"...

 

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/CodeAmber) - On March 30, Linda Spagnoli, Director of Communications for Code Amber, was invited to Capitol Hill along with Joe Brucia (Carlie's dad), and Ernie Allen (President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) to support Katherine Harris (R-FL) and Nick Lampson's (D-TX) introduction of "Carlie's Law" legislation. See photos and read the legislation at http://www.carlieslaw.org . The legislation strengthens the federal parole system by increasing penalties for repeat offenders. There are also provisions for notification of non-custodial parents when there is criminal activity in the child's home.

 

We're fortunate that Linda lives and breathes in the political and media arenas. She spent the next two days being interviewed by the national press. See her article that was published in the Tampa Tribune http://tampatrib.com/News/MGATER44ISD.html (There must be no more Carlies)

 

Please help support her trips to Washington and Tallahassee to further this legislation both on the state and federal levels by visiting http://codeamber.org/donate.html

 

*** Take Action on the Legislation and Contact Joe Brucia***

 

By visiting http://www.carlieslaw.org you will also find ways to contact your legislators to let them know how you feel about this legislation. We have received hundreds of offers from across the country to create organized letter writing campaigns. You can also offer your personal support to Carlie's dad by visitng the "Contact Joe" page at Code Amber. It was an emotional day in Washington, as you can imagine. Joe Brucia's family is very supportive of his efforts to keep career criminals away from our children. Every letter sent in by the Code Amber family supporting his efforts encourages him to keep pushing harder to get this legislation passed. The experience of this devastating tragedy has brought about a determination to keep other families from experiencing the same pain...

Remembering What Happened To 'Carlie Brucia'...	Matt Bruce - Owner and Managing Editor
	Original Story,Feb 08, 2004 08:38 PST

SARASOTA - Ever since the news first broke about the abduction of Carlie Brucia walking home from her girlfriends house, then later SEEN on the security video camera at Evie's Carwash, the entire country and probably the WORLD has been focused on helping find her. The man pictured grabbing her in the video is 'believed to be' Joseph P. Smith, 37 years old and a person with a LENGTHY criminal history. People are wondering just HOW is it this man wasn't locked away in jail with all the offenses he had in the past. What ever happened to the term 'career criminal'? It's a terrible shame what happened to 'Carlie' and everybody that has ANY sense of decency and morals grieves with her family. The family of News Sarasota and our parent company Firetrans Services LLC sends our most heartfelt condolences to the family of Carlie Brucia. Now it is up to US to make sure 'career criminals' are NOT allowed to walk the street! Mr. Smith failed 2 previous drug tests and was on probation. His probation officer wanted to put him in jail, where he SHOULD have been, for this. WHY did the Judge chose to NOT do this? WHO is this Judge? Should an investigation be launched into THIS 'inaction' on HIS part? What was Smith doing on PROBATION? Is this IRRESPONSIBLE? You Bet! When it comes to hurting CHILDREN, no penalty is too tough! And When it comes to murdering children, the death penalty and subsequent execution is EXACTLY what the 'convicted' person needs to get! There should NOT be ANY defense here for a person 'being high on drugs' and NOT knowing what they did by murdering THIS little girl and destroying the life on someone who hasn't even started to LIVE life yet! This is the 'rumor' I've been hearing for a 'possible' Smith defense. I know several of the local investigators that were working the case and a LOT of them have children too. For anyone who SAW Sarasota Sheriff Bill Balkwill fighting back tears when HE had to make the official announcement, you SAW how ALL of those involved in the case felt. If nothing else comes out of this DISPICABLE act, one thing IS for certain. These Police officers and Detectives gave EVERYTHING of themself to try to find 'Carlie' alive and well and return her to her family. It's almost like they've lost one of their OWN children now. Thankyou for the job you did, have done and will do to keep ALL of us SAFE! Now it's time to bring this ANIMAL to Justice...It's time for the REAL truth to get out, and that's what I just TOLD you...It's 'OUR' Opinion, written by: *Matt Bruce*... http://newssarasota.excitewebpages.com ...

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