City of Clearwater, Florida:

The Community and its History of Community Policing

Countryside Substation
The First Community Substation

Clearwater’s strategy of community policing began with the opening of Clearwater’s first community policing substation in the Countryside area of the city. During the latter part of 1981, a committee of police personnel formed to investigate the need for and the feasibility of constructing a satellite police station in the northeastern section of the city. The investigation revealed that response times for calls from the Countryside area often took up to 20 minutes because police officers were responding from the department’s downtown headquarters. It was obvious that there was a need to provide increased police service to the Countryside community. The department was fortunate in that it already owned property in the Countryside area, which housed a police canine and firearms training facility. This information was presented to the Clearwater City Commission in February 1982 with the recommendation that the city proceed with the construction of a new police substation. The recommendation, which was supported by various neighborhood groups and the Chamber of Commerce, was approved by the Commission. With completion of construction and the opening of the new Countryside substation in 1983, Clearwater began a new era of community policing that continues to this day.

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