Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
A Pompano man was arrested for fraud recently for taking a $15 check and somehow turning it into a $5,000 check payable to himself.
Chief Brandenburg said, “A lot of these fraud cases that we investigate, they end up being international criminal activity, which really limits our ability to investigate and bring those individuals to justice, and we end up turning that over and relying on our federal partners. However, in this situation, Mr. Baker was in Florida. He did commit the crimes in Florida, and it was a year long investigation that our Criminal Investigation Unit detectives put into this. They secured multiple financial records. They followed up on a ton of investigative leads, and ultimately we were able to establish probable cause and get an arrest warrant for Mr. Baker. And on April 14, our friends at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody without incident, and then they were able to get him transported down here to Key West. It was a $15 check that he had changed into a $5,000 check and then altered the name on the check to be his own. So he was charged with two felonies, that being grand theft and uttering a forged instrument, and he is now currently in the R&R Bed and Breakfast being held on a $35,000 bond. So yeah, another example how the law enforcement in South Florida work together and bring these perpetrators to justice.”
An exotic dancer on Duval Street had her hair cut off by a patron recently.
Chief Brandenburg said, “This individual had been to the establishment where women of interpretive dance work, and he was dissatisfied with the service he had been provided. He later returned and was shirtless, wearing a hockey mask, and grabbed a hold of one of the females that was working there, pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket and cut a portion of the female’s hair off before he fled on foot. Officers quickly located him at the intersection of Simonton and Louisa, so he made it about two blocks, and we were able to take him into custody. The incident was all caught on video, so that is extremely helpful in the prosecution of this individual. And he was charged initially with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault. Here’s a real shocker, possession of amphetamine. And then there was also the enhancement for wearing the mask while committing a second degree felony. So yeah, he’s going to be spending some significant time, I hope in the jail out there. He encountered the female outside the establishment.”
How are the rates of drug crimes going in Key West?
Chief Brandenburg said, “The trends that we’re seeing in not only the fraud cases, but also the trend we’re seeing in narcotics cases and the number of warrants that we are obtaining for these types of situations, and again, the men and women of the Key West Police Department are diligent in trying to locate and apprehend these individuals that are are introducing these poisons into our community. We just got two new canines for the Key West Police Department. Both these canines are dual purpose, so they find narcotics as well as felons. So they’re quite an asset for us and those guys hit the road running, and I know that they have been actively searching vehicles on the night shift and doing an outstanding job. We’re actually getting ready to send them back up to northern Florida to get another training session under their belt with the trainer and make sure everything’s progressing as it should with two new dogs. And so very proud of them. Very proud of both handlers. Both handlers are repeat handlers of canines, so they know what they’re doing. They know what we’re looking for. And so it’s a real asset to us to have two seasoned veterans out there with two new dogs. They’re both amazing, but boy, one of them is a Cadillac. I tell you what. I worked with both dogs in the last week. Given my history as a canine handler, I was able to work with both dogs. One’s younger, and so he has some, he has some learning to do, but his handler is doing a great job bringing him up to speed. And the other one is just, I’m telling you, what, if there was a Cadillac of dogs, that’s what we got. He’s quite an impressive animal.”
There are four dogs on the police force altogether.
Chief Brandenburg said, “Two of them can apprehend felons and find drugs, and then two of them only find drugs. My experience as a canine handler, I prefer the German Shepherd and we can get some Malinois handlers on the air, and we can have a debate, and probably fill up a whole day talking about the pros and cons of both breeds. And then for our narcotics only dogs, we use Labradors and just the physical makeup of the dog, the constant breeding of these dogs specifically for their ability to detect odors, they’re just great.”
The Key West Police Department has a partnership with the autism society.
Chief Brandenburg said, “The partnership has just continued to grow. Now every police car has a box in it with just different things that the Autism Society of the Keys has different tools that they’ve given us to help us should we encounter someone with autism. It’s everything from weighted blankets to timers. I never knew what a noodle was or how powerful a noodle can be, but for someone that is having a situation where they need assistance from the police, those things can come in amazingly handy. We have dry erase boards so that we can communicate. If they’re nonverbal, we can write back and forth with one another. We attend their meetings every month and it’s a great partnership, and I couldn’t thank Jill enough. The amazing things Jill has done in this community and the Autism Society of the Keys, throughout the entire Keys, I believe she’s even got every sheriff’s car with one of the boxes in it, and I know the schools have them. Several fire rescue vehicles have them. So she has really gone out of her way to make sure that we have the tools we need. We’ve all been trained both an online course and then an in person training that comes down here to Key West.”
There could be upwards of 50,000 people in Key West on any given day, so it can be challenging.
Chief Brandenburg said, “Just to watch those professionals work through handling every one of those calls and working as a team and getting the information, putting it into the computer and sending the resources that are needed for the emergency that’s going on, it’s impressive. I don’t know that I could do it. They definitely do an amazing job in there, and I commend them, and I think we should give them more than just a week a year to recognize them.”
Officer Tyler Getchel is the officer of the month for Keys Talk radio.
Chief Brandenburg said, “He’s an amazing asset for the Key West Police Department. He’s currently assigned to the marine unit. He was the officer of the year in 2022 and he is the one that just was commended by the dolphin life rescue group for his role with the dolphins and whales that were stranded off Fleming Key and his efforts out there and helping to increase the number of animals that were able to be rescued. So Tyler does an amazing job for us every day, and he jumped into shark infested, murky waters to help these animals get back out to sea so that they did not perish. So he won’t just put his life on the line for people. He’ll do it for animals as well. What an amazing example, and what a great, great asset I have in him.”