Meet The New Sanibel Police Captain

by SC Features Writer Reanna Haase

Sanibel’s newest addition to its police department leadership, Captain Patrick Harris, has a long-held special connection to the island, as it is one of his mother’s favorite vacation destinations. He was drawn back when touring the community with Chief William Dalton while beginning the endeavor of securing his new role.

“Everywhere we went, someone knew him,” Captain Harris said. “It was ‘Hi Chief,’ whether it was in a restaurant or the rec center or anywhere within the city, and that feeling of family, not just within the police department, but in the city and the island – it was just such an environment that I felt was inviting and welcoming and something that I wanted to be a part of.”

Captain Harris’ extensive law enforcement background brought him to this career transition. He served 30 years as a police officer in Virginia Beach, another coastal resort community.

Quickly moving up the ranks, the newly named captain shared that he served as a sergeant, then later was promoted to lieutenant and finally captain, all of which he completed work in various precincts and units within Virginia Beach law enforcement. His positions included sergeant of mounted patrol, lieutenant of violent crimes, night command duty officer, internal affairs captain, executive officer for the Operations Division, and more.

“Really, what impacted the decision was the quality of the person he was [and] the level of education he had,” Chief Dalton said. “Not only the college-type education, but he’s been to several executive police management sessions, like the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Research Forum. So, as far as those qualifications were concerned, he kind of hit the ball out of the park.”

Captain Harris will work under the direct supervision of Deputy Chief Anthony Thompson, and will start his career with Sanibel by taking over the management of the patrol operations of the island, Chief Dalton said. Though the captain’s start date at the Sanibel PD was Nov. 12, he has been working through the Florida certification process and is set to start his field training process next week.

“My hope is to emulate what the chief and the deputy chief have with the residents and with the officers and with the rest of the city employees,” Captain Harris said. “[I want to] bring the knowledge and skills that I have from another place and possibly a different perspective on a few things to what Sanibel Police Department has and together, make each other, them and myself, even better than we are today.”

The goal for Captain Harris is to take some of the work off of Deputy Chief Thompson’s plate, according to Chief Dalton. Captain Harris said some of his other roles, down the line, may include managing parking enforcement and traffic aids.

“Although the police department has a tradition of promoting from within, and I am a relative outsider, I think it is important for the readers to know that my goals, objectives, and work ethic are consistent with the chief and deputy chief and the city of Sanibel,” Captain Harris said.

“My mission is to provide the best possible services to the residents and our visitors, to ensure that this remains a community of a lifetime for the residents here.”