Florida Law Enforcement Property Recovery
Unit 2018 Conference

Highlights First Retail Fusion Center and Recognizes
Law Enforcement and Retail Award Winners

The Florida Law Enforcement Property Recovery Unit annual conference proved once again why we are the premier law enforcement and private partnership conference within the State of Florida. This year’s conference again surpassed the previous year’s attendance with attendees representing 26 Sherriff’s Offices, 29 Police Departments, and 15 retailers.

FLEPRU recognized Detectives Michael Wilds and Detective Eric Fernandez from the Sunrise Police Department as Investigators of the Year for a case involving a distraction theft group that were using fireworks to cause chaos and panic within malls throughout the Southeast United States to steal Rolex watches. We also recognized Lindsey Campbell from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office for her exceptional analytical support in several high profile violent crimes. The Business Partner of the Year recipient, Rick Gonzalez from Walgreens, was also recognized. Lt. Nancy Alvarez of the Monroe Sheriff’s Office nominated Mr. Gonzales for his assistance during the Hurricane Irma relief response that devastated the Florida Keys in September of 2017.

This year’s outstanding training curriculum started off with keynote speaker Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey. His inspirational speech, “Leadership From The Ledge”, set the positive and motivational tone for the conference which was followed up by two and half days of exceptional training. The training concluded with interview & interrogation class presented by Dave Thompson from Wicklander-Zulawski (W-Z). I heard from a Detective with over ten years of experience that he learned more in the three hour presentation by Dave Thompson than he has learned in years of advanced law enforcement training he has attended.

The highlight of the conference was the introduction of the first ever Retail Fusion Center (RFC). The RFC served as one of the focal points of the conference and allowed Law Enforcement professionals from across the State of Florida the opportunity to meet with Loss Prevention Managers and Organized Retail Crime Investigators who serve throughout the State of Florida. The RFC served to discuss cases, crime trends, to network, and helped make the much needed connections between the law enforcement and retail community to work as one. This concept was created based on feedback from previous conference attendee’s and FLEPRU members. FLEPRU’s core value is to incorporate valuable suggestions and feedback that help improve relationships, training curriculum, and the overall conference experience. As a result of the positive response, the Retail Fusion Center will return next year. The RFC’s huge success is directly linked to the numerous retailers that participated. In addition, FLEPRU would like to recognize Macy’s for supporting this concept and being the Premier sponsor of the conference.

The FLEPRU Board of Directors believe we achieved two of the main objectives we strive for each year: (1) that everyone learns new investigative techniques and (2) that our attendees have the opportunity to network and meet peers whom they can reach out to throughout the State of Florida for investigative assistance.

Each year, the conference attendees increase exponentially, and as such, the host hotel, Rosen Plaza, sells out of room’s months in advance as do the several overflow hotels. We recommended you reserve your rooms and register for next year’s conference well in advance. Next year’s FLEPRU conference will once again be hosted at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida on November 5–7, 2019. Stay tuned for more news for our upcoming conference, growing partnerships, and legislative issues we are pursuing.

Thank you to all of our attendees and the vendors/sponsors that made this conference a success and we are looking forward to next year!

*Thank you Sgt. Rich Rossman, Broward Sheriff's Office, for submitting this recap!

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