Kriseman makes conscious effort to connect city and policing staff in first 4 years

Mayor Rick Kriseman campaigned on improving relations between the St. Petersburg Police Department and the community while running for re-election this year.

Kriseman defended Police Chief Anthony Holloway, boasted about lowering the number of citizen-initiated police complaints and gushed about the city's Park, Walk and Talk Program.

Kriseman argued those efforts helped him make good on his promise to re-establish a community policing philosophy.

One of the first actions Kriseman took was hiring Holloway after the retirement of police chief Chuck Harmon. Holloway, who as Clearwater police chief had implemented community-policing programs, continued that practice when he was appointed St. Petersburg chief in 2014.

Not long after, Holloway started the Park, Walk and Talk program that encourages officers to leave their cruisers and talk to residents, building relationships with the people the police are serving. All uniformed officers must walk a patrol area for an allotted time and log their walk. 

According to the Tampa Bay Times, officers did 58,000 walks in three years, though records don't show specific metrics like the length of the walk or how many conversations they had. While it can be hard to assess the program's success, community leaders told the Times they like the program and want to see it improve in the future.

From the 1990s until 2006, the department's approach was different: More than 40 officers were each committed to a particular neighborhood. However, Harmon, who held the job from 2001-14, said he stopped that initiative amid complaints from the department.

The city says the increased communication with the community and the police has led to a decline in citizen-initiated police complaints.

According to data from the police department's Office of Professional Standards, which investigates complaints and criminal misconduct, citizen-initiated complaints have — for the most part — been dropping since the beginning of 2001.

"People understand what we do and why we do it, and our sergeants and frontline supervisors have become more accustomed to explaining why things are done a certain way," said Maj. Tim Brockman, who has been the Office of Professional Standards commander for two years and with the department for over two decades.

Kriseman said he wanted a return to community policing in St. Petersburg. From city walks, to appointing Holloway, Kriseman has made a conscious effort to connect the city and the policing staff. We rate this Promise Kept.