Vice Mayor Stephen Shelley, on behalf of Mayor Jeff Porter, recognized Officer Jordan Vasquez and Officer Dwayne Ireland as Officers of the Month at the Special Presentations on March 21 for their exceptional public service and work on the Homestead Police Department during the month of February 2018.
Captain Raymond DeJohn said, “This month is unique in that we are honoring two officers. Both have been chosen for their outstanding efforts in law enforcement and their dedication to the community.” He said Vasquez and Ireland were “out there protecting our citizens and responding to calls and being there for everybody.”
Officer Jordan Vasquez, assigned to Uniform Patrol, became a reserve officer in November 2014. He became a full-time officer in March 2016. Officer Dwayne Ireland became a full-time officer in June 2017. He came to the City of Homestead from the Florida City Police Department.
Detailing each officer’s achievements for the time period, DeJohn said Vasquez had eight arrests, 15 citations, five field contacts, 21 incident reports and 67 calls for service. Most of these arrests were drug-related. DeJohn said, “He knows his trade, he knows what he’s doing, and for that, he’s being recognized as Officer of the Month.”
DeJohn said Ireland, who works the midnight shift, also had numerous arrests and calls he’d handled in February. He recounted one situation where Ireland was on patrol when he spotted a car reported as stolen and requested back-up. He conducted a traffic stop and confirmed the vehicle was stolen. The subject was also in possession of drugs and was arrested.
During this time period, Ireland had 273 calls for service, 108 business and neighborhood checks, 24 citations, 29 reports and 18 arrests.
DeJohn explained, “Both of these officers are fine examples of a lot of what we have in terms of our young officers. This is one great big team, although these officers are being recognized individually. There is a lot of teamwork that goes into this work.”
Vice Mayor Shelley presented Vasquez and Ireland with certificates of recognition and thanked them for their service which was “above and beyond the call of duty.”
Vasquez thanked the City Council for “being pro-police so we can serve our community better.” He also thanked the Command Staff and Chief Rolle, adding, “I want to thank the vets for teaching a young cub how to be in line and giving him the tools to be a better officer.”
Ireland also thanked the council, his parents and everyone on the force, adding, and “I want to be a better individual and officer every day. I just want to thank everybody and I’m going to always keep working hard for Homestead.”