Teenager's idea brings PCPD together with the community.
On August 6, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., Esposito’s Pizza hosted Pizza with Police, an opportunity for kids and adults to get to know PCPD officers.
“I came up with this idea because I just love our police, and I am so grateful for all they do for us,” 13-year-old Alex Fautas, son of Esposito’s owner Frank Fautas, said. “We wanted to give back to the community and the police. We want all of the community to know that our police are good people and they deserve everything. When we were bringing pizzas, chicken, and pasta to the police, my parents were talking with the police about how a different company was doing Coffee with a Cop. I interrupted them, and I said, ‘We should do Pizza with the Police; that would be a great idea,’ and everything else fell into place.”
The community was also invited to bring school supplies to the event for a local school in need. ”We just came out to support our local police officers. We appreciate everything they do,” Tammy Chancey said. “And also to bring school supplies for kids in the schools that need them.”
“I have lived in Plant City my entire life, and I think this is a great opportunity for the community to meet with the police and interact on a social level,” Bill Davis said. “I think the chief has done an outstanding job since taking office. He has really opened up a lot of avenues for the community to get involved with the police, and he is doing a lot of great things.”
Residents see the police cars and trucks patrolling or driving to calls, but rarely have time to talk with officers. The reason is that the PCPD has been quite active. The department just released these statistics for their calls and actions in July.
• 38 larcenies
• 34 behavioral health
calls
• 119 crashes
• 40 battery
• 15 property crimes
• 160 disturbances
• 15 domestic violence
• 8 drug or alcohol crisis
respones
• 538 traffic stops
result ing in 244 tickets
• 6 DUI arrests
• 1,358 resident-initiated
calls for service
• 3,035 officer-initiated
call for service
• 61 felony arrests
• 114 misdemeanor arrests
“These community events are extremely beneficial for relationship building and bringing the community together, especially with business owners,” Deputy Chief Joe Centanni said. “Historically, these events are in the morning; we have Coffee with a Cop in the morning. People have work lives, so a lot of times they don’t generate the number of citizens that we would want them to. But at night, when we come in after hours, it’s much better. This showing is fantastic. I’ve had an opportunity to meet families, and meet people in the community. It is amazing.” One of those was a seven-year-old who came to the event dressed in a tiny police get up. He is going to be treated to a tour of the Police Center. “At the end of the day, that is what this is about. It is all of us coming together. We are really excited to be here and represent the city and the police department.”
