By Mike Cantaloupe – Chief of Police, Cocoa, FL
I am a firm believer in the Safe Call Now program. When I was first appointed as Chief of Police, I encountered what I believe to be a Chief’s or administrator’s worst nightmare. I received a call from another local Chief who stated that one of my officers was threatening to kill himself. There were several text messages from the officer. We were able to isolate my officer but then the real nightmare began. He was able to basically convince my entire command staff that he was fine and that we really needed to let him go home. I had to literally order one of my Majors to “Baker Act” the officer who by the way is a very close friend of mine. Yes, that made the situation even worse. He became very aggressive towards me and basically told me he hated my guts and I was ruining his career, not in those exact words. My friend and my officer was going to die!!!
