Officer and Employee of the Month - March 2015

OFFICER MICHAEL MCNAMARA

OFFICER OF THE MONTH

Officer Michael McNamara is assigned to the District II ROC squad.  Prior to this, he was assigned as a community police officer, whose primary responsibility is developing intelligence, analyzing crime patterns in the District II, and enforcing the law through education and proactive enforcement.

Mike has demonstrated tremendous personal growth in his assigned area, and the knowledge he possesses has greatly benefitted the department’s goal of crime reduction.  He understands the necessity of documentation and information sharing, which he demonstrates through linkage in VERSADEX and blogging via SAFECOP.  He takes great pride and has dedicated significant effort to addressing problems and reducing crimes within Sulphur Springs community.

A shooting that occurred in District II resulting in a subject being shot in the arm.  The initial investigation was void of witnesses, suspect information or workable leads.  Upon returning to work, Mike was requested to look into the shooting.  During his reinvestigation, he was able to obtain five sworn statements and provided a detailed supplement, which culminated in an arrest warrant being issued and subsequent arrest of a known gang member.

While creating an information offender’s list in the district, Mike was monitoring radio traffic and heard a BOLO regarding an auto burglary suspect.  Based on the description of the suspect and the location of the offense, Mike directed units to a known offender’s residence.  The real-time intelligence he provided proved to be 100% correct and resulted in the offender being taken into custody.  The suspect confessed to the auto burglary and property was recovered from his residence from another auto burglary.

Mike has identified and created a linkage of over 300 people who were members or associates of the Drak gang, which operated in the Sulphur Springs area.  He also identified five problem houses in the area and worked with property owners, managers, Code Enforcement and the ROC squad to eradicate the problem.  All of the houses resulted in evictions of the tenants for felony drug arrest.

By utilizing SAFECOP, Mike was able to identify and locate multiple Big Four offenders, apprehending over 35 of the most wanted offenders in the city.  He has assisted DLIS, CIB, SIB, and the gang unit with identifications, resulting in numerous arrest and search warrants.  He created an offender picture book, which is readily available to assist CID and ROC units when trying to identify subjects by nicknames or descriptions in the district.

In recognition of his outstanding performance of duty, dedication to creating a better quality of life for the citizens of Tampa, Officer Michael McNamara has been selected as the Officer of the Month for March 2015.

AMY E. METCALF

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

Amy Metcalf was employed by the Tampa Police Department as a Crime Analyst on June 9, 2014.  She has quickly learned the duties of this position and seeks out multiple sources and contacts in order to develop new ideas and methods related to her job.  In addition to offering her analytical help to officers, detectives, and command staff, Amy developed relationships with multiple analysts from surrounding agencies.  These relationships have proven effective on many occasions when intelligence sharing between the agencies has assisted investigators working large crime patterns.

Amy has embraced the Tampa Police Department’s mission of fighting crime by focusing on known suspects and patterns.  Auto burglary has continually been a challenging offense to combat.  After being asked to conduct an analysis of recent offenses, Amy went above-and-beyond by analyzing multiple years and data.  She took the large amount of data and turned it into a report, which provided clear and attainable areas of improvement.

In June 2014, District One was experiencing a surge of auto burglaries where suspects were targeting purses and committing bank fraud.  A pattern developed and a possible lead was developed, consisting of a suspect description and phone number.  The detectives obtained a large amount of call records related to additional suspects.  Amy offered her assistance and, through self-initiated study, learned how to analyze the records and the use of cell phone terminology and mapping software.  By the end of the investigation, Amy compiled detailed biographical reports on all of the suspects and comprehensive mapping of their cell phone usage.  These reports proved to be a key factor in the suspects’ pending statewide prosecution.

In addition to using social media in criminal investigations to find suspects, fugitives, and photographic evidence, Amy shares her techniques with fellow analysts and investigators.  During a recent investigation, where an AR-15 rifle was stolen, Amy utilized social media to locate a suspect, which led to the recovery of the firearm.  Using social media in another case, where a suspect was habitually defacing multiple structures by spray painting them, Amy provided key pieces of information that assisted detectives in building a case against the suspect.

In recognition of her assistance and exceptional analytical and creative work, Amy Metcalf has been selected as the Employee of the Month for March 2015.