Officer and Employee of the Month - November 2014

OFFICER MICHAEL J. LIPPOLD

OFFICER OF THE MONTH

In March 2014, a victim was brutally beaten to death.  There were several subjects involved in this murder but investigators were having a difficult time locating any witnesses.  The next morning, Officer Michael Lippold was researching cases in his assigned zone.  He read the homicide report and deployed a confidential source to the area to develop any leads.  As a result, Officer Lippold was able to identify a subject that was present during the homicide.  He coordinated with the Homicide Squad to locate and interview the subject.  After the interview, Officer Lippold again deployed the confidential source and was able to identify two additional suspects.  Once warrants were issued, Officer Lippold assisted the Fugitive Apprehension Unit and Homicide Squad in locating and arresting the suspects for second degree murder.

During a 51 hour period in September 2014, there were three investigations in the area of 13^th Street and Columbus Drive that appeared connected; an armed robbery, an armed home invasion, and an armed sexual battery.  After the sexual battery had occurred, Officer Lippold assisted in conducting a neighborhood survey.  Instead of merely knocking on doors, he took the initiative to methodically walk the neighborhood for several hours, looking for evidence.  He encountered a neighbor that found a wallet in her back yard the week before.  He collected the wallet, which turned out to become a key piece of evidence in the case that led to the suspect being arrest for the armed sexual battery.

On September 25, 2014, a local pickup was placed for a juvenile for armed robbery.  Officer Lippold reviewed the report and began searching for him.  A short time later, he and other squad members located the subject and took him into custody.  Officer Lippold interviewed the subject and was able to gain a confession.  He was also able to convince the subject to lead him to the weapon used to commit the offense.  His efforts also resulted in a second subject being identified and arrest.  Officer Lippold also interviewed this subject, who confessed to his part in the robbery.

On September 26, 2014, a local pickup was placed for a subject after a DNA hit confirmed he committed a commercial burglary in July.  This subject is a habitual offender and has been to prison ten times.  This offense was committed just two weeks after his most current release.  Officer Lippold began contacting confidential sources in the area in an attempt to locate the subject.  On October 1, a confidential source contacted Officer Lippold to advise the suspect’s whereabouts.  Even though it was his day off, Officer Lippold took the time to coordinate the subject’s arrest.  The suspect confessed to the detectives.

In recognition of his outstanding initiative and continuous crime fighting, resulting in the closure and arrest in several high profile cases, Officer Michael Lippold has been selected as the Officer of the Month for November 2014.

MARK W. TOWNSEND

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

Mark Townsend was employed by the Tampa Police Department as an Officer in 1981 and retired as a Sergeant in 1994 after being injured in the line of duty.  He returned to the department as a Polygraph Specialist in 2001.  His attention to detail, manner, and competency is well-known to the detectives.

Mark is able to put people at ease, and his combination of experience as a sworn officer and polygraph examiner, as well as his professional demeanor, has helped him to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused and solve numerous cases.   His unique ability to not only read and decipher the test results, but his comprehensive experience and training gives him the insight to read a person’s body language and demeanor prior to the polygraph to get an additional understanding of the person’s background and truthfulness.

Mark takes into account the person’s responses and gauges their meaning to insure that there is no misunderstanding in the pre and post polygraph answers.  This has also proven to be quite beneficial to the department in terms of potential employees disclosing disqualifying information prior to the administration of the polygraph.  He understands human behavior and the indication of deception.  In addition to all the work that goes into insuring that only applicants that meet our stringent standards are hired.  The department is currently challenged with the over hire of 30 police officers.  This translates to processing an additional 200 to 300 applicants.  He is also tasked with the hiring of civilian employees.

Mark is always willing to go above and beyond his duties and responsibilities to help with additional tasks the department needs.  He was recently instrumental in helping the Property Section review approximately 3,000 pages of exceptions reports.  This was a daunting task that took months to complete.

In recognition of his exemplary work and dedication to duty, Mark Townsend has been selected as the Employee of the Month for November 2014.