Hundreds of volunteers united in Polk County to raise money to help the families of the two T.P.D fallen Officers,

Curtis and Kocab. Two different events were held today, one in Kathleen, and one in Lakeland. The first event known as

"Grilling for aCause" and the second event was held at Alligator Alley. "Grilling for a Cause" held at the Kathleen Middle

School in Kathleen. The event officially started at 10:oo am,

but about 15 different Crews arrived as early as 5:oo am to light

the grills and get the Ribs cooking. It was easy to see that many

of the estimated 200 volunteers had been working for hours in

preparation of what turned out to be a successful fundraiser. The

final numbers are not in yet, but they should be impressive.

 Approximatly 3000 slabs of ribs were cooked and sold for $20.00

per slab. All kinds of baked goods that were donated were also sold

and T-Shirts were one of the hot items. Over $70,000.00 dollars

were raised for the families. 100% of the proceeds from the event

will be split between both families.

The CSX Tactical Rail Train rolled into Lakeland, for a rare opportunity to allow
local S.W.A.T. teams to learn how to properly board a freight/passenger rail car.
The exercise took place April 18-23. Area S.W.A.T. teams from Lakeland,
Winter Haven, Polk County, and Hillsborough County S.W.A.T participated in the
training. Due to limited space not all local members were able to attend the
class, and with such a large turnout the class was broken into two different
sessions. Once contacted the class was organized by CSX  Police team Commander Deputy
Chief Bob Flake of CSX Police Department. Flake says he gets many more
requests than he is able to accommodate. According to DC Flake this is a one
of a kind train, known as the “SWAT TRAIN” that was born out of the need for post 911
training. It’s obvious of CSX’S commitment to being proactive to future threats,
with the amount of resources that are brought to each of these training events.
There were almost as many instructors and support personnel as there were
students, as well as support vehicles and the train itself.

Lakeland Police Department holds open house

Lakeland Police Department held their open house on Saturday. The weather was perfect for the event and by all appearances the crowds agreed.  Many citizens jammed the lobby to tour the Communication Center and Crime Scene Area.  Outside officer’s displayed S.W.A.T. team tools, weapons, and transport unit. Officer Franz was displaying the departments dive gear and boat. 

Officer Gomez, who was off duty healing from (Click here for complete story)

Fire Marshal’s show off some new Robots.

Pictured left Captain Brandon Ball top Lieutenant Thomas Bosco 

State Fire Marshal’s Captain Brandon Ball and Lieutenant Thomas “Tommy” Bosco show off some of their new equipment at Berkley Charter Elementary School on Tuesday the 16, 2010.  It’s clear by Balls interaction with the kids that he loves the opportunity to show the youngsters equipment that he uses in his job. Both Ball and Bosco are Bomb Technicians as well as Fire Investigators with The Florida State Fire Marshals Satellite Office in Lake Wales. Pictured Ball, along with Bosco explains what the Robots are used for and shows off the newest addition to the office a $67000.00 ICOR Caliber E.O.D. (Explosive-Ordinance-Disposal) Robot. It is smaller than the previous one, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in features. This unit comes with 4 remotely activated cameras, 2 functional arms; one is a weapons platform for destructing explosives, and the other a working claw for picking items up and moving them around. It also has two way communications, with a microphone for listening and a speaker for communicating with possible suspects, often used by S.W.A.T. Teams. The unit can travel up to 5mph and takes less than 10 minutes to deploy as it is stored and transported in a Ford Excursion. 

Ball says they respond to several requests a month in the local area for assistance, as well as being a member of Tampa Bay Regional Bomb Squad, which also includes Tampa Police Dept. and Hillsborough County Sheriffs Dept.

                Capt. Ball said they often do these demonstrations and welcome agencies request for them. This helps show what resources are available in the event they are needed. You can contact Capt. Brandon Ball to schedule a demo via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Lieutenant Thomas Bosco at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More pictures below.

Figure 1 Looking in backseat, control for larger Robot

Figure 2  Utility type Robot transport

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Figure 3 Storage area for Robot

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Figure 4 After Robot has been loaded.

Figure 5 Rear of truck.