WATCH: Sheriff Wayne Ivey Recaps Successful 2018 for Brevard County Sheriff’s Office

(Video Archived)

Drop in Crime Rate, Social Media boom highlight year

ABOVE VIDEO: Under the leadership of Sheriff Wayne Ivey, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office had another incredible year in 2018. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Under the leadership of Sheriff Wayne Ivey, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office had another incredible year in 2018.

The year began with a drop in crime rate report.

A report released in February showed a 5.8 percent decrease in the reported Crime Rate as compared to 2016, and an overall decrease of 19.05 percent for the areas of BCSO’s responsibility since January 2013.

February would also produce three of the most tragic moments of the year.

On Valentines Day,  Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed 17 adults and children at his former school, Marjory Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Three days following the Parkland shooting, tragedy would strike closer to home here in Brevard County.

Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Stanton was killed in an early morning crash on I-95 near State Road 50 in Titusville.

Accompanied by 13 members of the department’s command team, as well as a member of the Florida Highway Patrol, Sheriff delivered an emotional press conference announcing the tragedy.

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FTO Stanton was hired as a Deputy with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office on October 29, 2007, and had served with the agency for more than 10 years.

Funeral services honoring Deputy Kevin Stanton took place on Feb 23 at New Life Christian Church in Titusville. Nearly 1,800 law enforcement officers and first responders from around the country attended the services.

Sadly, hours following Deputy Stanton’s funeral, the department would lose another member, as Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Deputy Jonathan “Keith” Hardin died that night in an off-duty motorcycle accident in Palm Bay.

As he has done so many times during his tenure, Sheriff Ivey was proactive in his approach in dealing with the grief that surrounded the county and state following the tough February.

S.T.O.M.P.

Just 17 days following the Parkland shooting, Sheriff Ivey called a press conference in which he introduced a four-pronged proactive initiative that would help to better secure Brevard County Schools.

Ivey proposed a “Sheriff Trained Onsight Marshal Program” or S.T.O.M.P., which included a recommendation to properly arm vetted and trained school volunteers and personnel to carry concealed firearms on campus.

The proposal was not without its detractors and after BPS hosted five staff meetings and three public town-hall meetings where school board members and then Superintendent Desmond Blackburn listened to comments and questions about the best way to protect students and staff, the plan was modified and then voted on in May.

On May 9, Brevard County School Board members voted 5-0 to implement an upgraded plan for arming BPS staff to stop school shooters. The new plan called for hiring full-time School Safety and Security Specialists, who would be armed and receive the same screening and tactical training for guardians outlined by Sheriff Wayne Ivey under the Sheriff Trained On-site Marshal Program (STOMP).

In mid-October, with new superintendent Mark Mullins by his side,  Sheriff Ivey announced that more than two dozen armed security guards were being assigned to Brevard County elementary schools by the end of the month.

Community Involvement:

ABOVE VIDEO: The grand champion of the fourth annual ‘Dancing For the Space Coast’ was a tie for first as Brevard County native and co-owner of FrogBones Family Shooting Center Jessica Andre, along with her instructor Primo Garcia from Dancin’ Dance Studio, shared the title with Ryan Firth from Southeast Petro and instructor Heidi Arnold. Here is Jessica and Primo’s winning dance as well as their interview with Gina Liberto following their dance.

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office continued to hold events and reach out to the community providing for charities such as the BCSO Pet Posse, Police Athletic League, and Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Charity, Inc, which was established to assist Brevard County law enforcement officers and firefighters/paramedics in their time of need.

In June, the BCSO’s Fourth Annual “Dancing For The Space Coast” broke records in both money raised and the number of people attending the event.

820 people packed the Clemente at Florida Tech and helped to raise $340,000 which benefitted  The Space Coast Field of Dreams, Crosswinds Youth Services, and the Brevard County community theater organizations – the Cocoa Village Playhouse, Henegar Center for the Arts, Melbourne Civic Theatre, Surfside Playhouse and Titusville Playhouse, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Charity, Inc.

The grand champion of  Dancing For the Space Coast was a tie for first as Brevard County native and co-owner of FrogBones Family Shooting Center Jessica Andre, along with her instructor Primo Garcia from Dancin’ Dance Studio, shared the title with Ryan Firth from Southeast Petro and instructor Heidi Arnold, also from Dancin’ Dance Studio in Indialantic.

The Haunted Jail Trail, Hemis For Heroes and adoption programs through the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Animal Shelters and Services continued with a great deal of success.

Social Media Outreach

You can never feature too many wanted fugitives, and building on the success of informative Facebook shows such as “Wheel of Fugitive,” “On Scene with the BCSO” and “Paw Patrol,” Sheriff Ivey premiered several new fugitive and cold case shows in 2018.

“Cookin Up Justice” and “Fishing For Fugitives” premiered in 2018 with the goal to make the public more aware of fugitives on the loose and to help solve cold cases.

Another goal of shows like Cookin Up Justice is to raise awareness of local small businesses. Sheriff Ivey visited and profiled 18 different restaurants and cafes during the show’s episodes in 2018.

“Riding Shotgun” also debuted in 2018 and is dedicated to following a Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy for a shift while showing the great work Deputies do on the streets.

Brevard County Sheriff’s Office also developed a new app available on Android an iOS devices to help keep citizens more informed.

Deputy of the Year 2017:

ABOVE VIDEO: Quick action by a Port Canaveral harbor pilot and a Brevard County Marine Unit Deputy saved two boaters operating a personal watercraft in Port Canaveral on Saturday afternoon, March 11, from possible serious injury or worse. (Anthony Miglioranzi video)

Deputy Taner Primmer was selected from one of the Deputies of the Month for 2017 and selected as Deputy of the Year last April during the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office yearly award ceremony.

After two young ladies watercraft (jet ski) would not start, leaving them directly in the path of the outbound Carnival Magic cruise ship, Deputy Primer pulled the girls to safety saving their lives.

Deputy Primer also saved the life of a lady choking at a local restaurant as he was having dinner with his family.

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