Officer and Employee of the Month October 2014

Officer Justin T. Martens

Officer of the Month

October 2014

Since January 2014, Officer Justin Martens has been an important ingredient to the successful closure of multiple Big 4 offenses that have occurred in District 2, Sector D. As a result of his unique investigative abilities and his partnership with ROC and DLIS, Officer Martens has been able to develop leads where none seemed apparent.

Officer Martens has consistently applied his talents to the closure of criminal offenses and has become a reliable resource for DLIS detectives. For instance, in January when there was a rash of burglaries occurring in the area, Martens reviewed several reports and realized a witness may have given false information.  As he delved deeper into the reports, Martens noticed inconsistencies in the suspect’s and witnesses’ previous statements. He re-interviewed the suspect and obtained a confession. Martens interviewing techniques worked but he didn’t stop there. He followed up on several calls for service, establishing a rapport with the other identified suspects, and gained confessions from them as well.

In April, Sector D was again experiencing another series of burglaries. Officer Martens investigated a series of pawns for possible leads.  When information did not lead to the identification on a suspected subject, Officer Martens began focusing on his associates.  As a result of his diligence, Officer Martens was able to identify a “link” and discovered the connection that subsequently closed several City and County burglaries. This resulted in the recovery of thousands of dollars in personal property, including jewelry and electronics.

These are just two of many cases where Officer Martens has demonstrated his sound investigative skills, commitment to crime reduction, and the arrest of offenders.  He has become passionate in solving Big 4 offenses and has become a reliable “go to” resource among the DLIS in solving these offenses.  Because of his knowledge of offenders and hot spot policing within District 2, Officer Martens has created a strong investigative resource bank and a long list of satisfied citizens.  Additionally, he has gained an understanding of the informational resources available to him and, as a result, has been able to also assist other patrol officers on their use.

In recognition of his actions, work ethic, and attention to detail, Officer Justin Martens has been selected as the Tampa Police Department’s Officer of the Month for October 2014.

AMARA SERRANO-KIRBY

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

OCTOBER 2014

Amara Serrano-Kirby is a Crime Intelligence Analyst for the Central Florida HIDTA. She works directly with our Strategic Investigations Bureau.  Her duties are to assist the department’s Narcotics Unit, Columbian/South American HIDTA group, with their investigations into drug trafficking organizations.

Amara goes above-and-beyond her duties to assist any officer from the Tampa Police Department who calls her with a request to find information on criminals.  She uses her vast knowledge of investigative resources and social networks to microscopically search criminal elements.  In addition to her work with the Strategic Investigations Bureau, she uses her expertise and knowledge to assist with many of our department’s investigations, including Homicide, Violent Crimes Squad, ROC, and District Latent Investigative Squads.  As an example, a homicide detective recently asked her to help identify a murder suspect in a shooting death in District Three.  She was given a picture that was taken the night of the crime and, by using facial recognition software to search social media sites, Amara was able to identify the shooter.

Amara displays excellent initiative by searching the department’s Daily Incident Reports for any narcotic related incidents and then transcribing the information into a narcotic de-confliction system (CaseExplorer).  The information is transformed into analytical data that is used to prevent law enforcement conflicts (blue on blue incidents), a huge officer safety tool.  Amara’s passion to keep all officers safe led her to train all Tampa Police officers who work within the narcotics realm.  To date, she has taught the two-hour training course to over 150 officers throughout the department, adjusting her schedule to accommodate the many work cycles.  Her dedication to officer safety is evident as she answers her phone after hours, on weekends, and during her vacation to assist anyone who needs assistance.  She feels that it only takes five minutes to log onto her laptop and that the time is worth it to save an officer.

In recognition of her outstanding work ethic and selfless support, which has made her a treasured member of the Tampa Police Department, Amara Serrano-Kirby has been selected as the Employee of the Month for October 2014.