Boynton Forum

The Boynton Beach Police Department recently announced its employees of the year for 2008.
Scott Spruill was named 2008 Uniform Services Officer of the Year, Troy Raines was named Detective of the Year and Stephanie Slater was named Civilian of the Year.
Spruill, a member of the department’s Community Action Team, initiated an investigation that led to the dismantling of a well-structured crack cocaine ring in Boynton Beach.
The ring included street dealers, middlemen and sources of supply. The investigation led to the arrests of more than 100 individuals.
The investigation included the DEA, FBI and departments from all around the state.
Spruill also was a full-time student at Barry University and recently graduated um laude.
Raines is assigned to the Violent Crimes Task Force with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department.
He has worked in the suppression of gang activity, especially with violence by the Top 6 gang.
The Top 6 gang is responsible for more than 140 shootings and 12 homicides. Raines has made several arrests associated with the Top 6 gang.
Sgt. Paul Sheridan, Raines’s supervisor, said Raines upholds the highest tradition of the department and displays leadership, courage and devotion to duty.
Slater started with the department in April 2007. In the past year, Slater expanded the department’s Internet initiatives, making Boynton the first department in Florida to have a profile on Facebook.
In addition, the department was the first in the county to post videos on YouTube and have a MySpace profile.
Slater has never shied away from doing what is necessary to connect the department with its residents, now putting the department on Twitter.
“Well, my role is to get the word out to the public and we have to follow the trends,” she said. “The police through social media can reach out to broader audiences to promote the department.”
Through Facebook and MySpace, Slater has alerted residents of any emergency activity and created a way for residents to send the department tips.
In addition to her Web-based initiatives, Slater worked with the detective bureau to create a public service announcement reminding women to keep their purses on them at all times while shopping, which was a problem lately at local stores.

Mike Rothman can be reached at mkrothman@tribune.com.