We’ve just spent seven days telling you about many aspects of the Port St. Lucie Police Department and if there’s one thing we learned, it’s this – the officers who protect the safest city in Florida live and breathe for the opportunity to interact with residents and keep them as safe as possible.

We told you on Jan. 1 how community policing is a way of life for PSL officers. According to Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro, it’s a concept that’s been in place since the department was founded in 1980 and one that promises to continue to evolve and be in place for many years to come.

Through the past eight days, we’ve also examined various details about the department that boasts 273 officers and 77 civilians. We’ve delved into the reasons Port St. Lucie ranks as the safest large city in Florida, starting with the all-out drive to provide excellent customer service at every turn, which starts with Chief John Bolduc and flows all the way through the ranks of every officer and employee.

We also talked extensively with Del Toro about the need for police departments to be accredited. For those who aren’t familiar with accreditation, it involves a commissioned, outside body verifying that a law enforcement agency is meeting stringent criteria.

Being accredited at the state level involves meeting about 90 standards, while achieving international accreditation requires meeting about 400 rigid requirements. Port St. Lucie residents might not know it, but their police department carries both accreditations, which ranks them among the best of the best.

If you’re still wondering what that all means, then consider this: Out of 18,000 law enforcement agencies, only 800 are internationally accredited and the PSL Police Department is one of those. The agency also is one of only 153 to be accredited with excellence – and it’s carried the prestigious designation for more than 30 years.

If that’s not enough for you, of the 343 municipal and county law enforcement agencies in the Sunshine State, only 13 are internationally accredited – and your police department is one of them.

We took some time to look at how the agency handles specific events. Del Toro shared with us the significance of National Night Out, where the PSL Police Department opens its doors to the public. There’s plenty of demonstrations – K-9, SWAT, motorcycle officers – and this year Del Toro, Bolduc and Mayor Shannon Martin unveiled the department’s breast cancer awareness-themed patrol vehicle that paid tribute to two of their own who dealt with the disease.

We also told you how the police department handles a large-scale event like the annual Festival of Lights at the MIDFLORIDA Event Center. An event like that takes immense planning and officers are there to get residents in, get them parked, protect them during the event and get them back on the road safely once it’s over. Del Toro said it’s a must for his officers to provide a safe environment where the 10,000-plus participants can enjoy spending time together while celebrating the holiday season.

Another huge aspect we examined was the department’s mantra of spending time with children of all ages. It might be visiting with kids at various schools and other locations and events. It could be in the form of the annual Shop With a Cop event or other efforts to take care of those in need. Or it might be through one-on-one visits with children who stop by to thank officers for their service, run into them at area restaurants or enjoy visits and demonstrations by K-9 officers and their lovable partners.

We also told you about the importance the PSL Police Department puts on its school resource officers, who are assigned to every high school in the city. Del Toro shared the story of retired officer Carl Toppin, a gentle giant who once tried out for the Miami Dolphins. Del Toro labeled Toppin as one of the kindest people he has ever met and marveled at how adults would wave at him or say hello because they remembered their time with him many years prior as high school students.

Finally, we shared how every man and woman who wears the badge of the Port St. Lucie Police Department strives to make sure the city maintains its designation as one of the safest in Florida. Del Toro said there are many ways that mission is accomplished in the seventh-largest city in the Sunshine State. But he said it wouldn’t be possible without the solid relationships they have with caring residents who want to live in a quality place where they feel safe every single day.

As a 40-year journalist, I’ve covered law enforcement and first responders in cities and towns of all sizes. I wrote stories about crime and large-scale brush fires for many years in San Bernardino County, Calif. – the largest county in the United States. While I was there, I covered an armed robbery at a video store where the son of my newspaper’s advertising director was gunned down in cold blood by a Los Angeles gang member. I also was riding with a sheriff’s deputy one night and was a block away when a vehicle driven by a drunk driver slammed into the back of a Chevy Malibu that exploded and killed two sisters riding in the back seat. The father and older sister barely escaped from the front seat and I soon learned they were on the way home from the hospital after the mom had delivered twins. To this day I remember the dad grabbing me and saying about his grade-school-age daughters, “My babies are burning.”

During my years as a newspaper editor, I also oversaw coverage of plenty of crime and other issues. When I was the executive editor of the Fort Pierce Tribune 22 years ago, I spent many nights riding with retired St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Hardman and retired Fort Pierce Police K-9 Officer Perry Martin and his partner, Igor – among the finest to ever wear a badge. And during my college days at the University of Louisville, I covered the trial of an officer who caused a crash that killed his best friend while they were celebrating their graduation from the police academy.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I’ve covered law enforcement agencies across the country for many years – something I also hope to do for many more years – and I can truthfully say that Port St. Lucie residents are fortunate to have a police department that puts such a high level of importance on community policing and customer service.

If you don’t believe that, just watch those officers some time as they interact with residents at an event. If you’re a parent, ask your child about a K-9 demonstration they’ve attended or the experiences of being with an officer at an event like Shop With a Cop. Of if your child is in high school, ask about the school resource officer who makes it a point to keep him or her safe on a daily basis.

Better yet, when you are out and about in the community, take a minute to say hello to an officer and thank them for their service. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it and I guarantee you’ll walk away feeling very good about the men and women who wear the badge of the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

Larry D. Croom is the COO and content director of MyTreasureCoastNow.com. He has been a working journalist for close to 40 years and has served as the executive editor of five newspapers – including The Fort Pierce/Port St. Lucie Tribune – and the associate publisher of a daily newspaper in North Carolina. He and his teams have won hundreds of journalism awards, including an Edward R. Murrow Award and Two Telly Awards for telling the stories of veterans in Central Florida. He can be reached at [email protected].