Assistant Chief Sam Taylor will replace Lakeland Police Chief Ruben Garcia at end of month
Sam Taylor, an assistant chief who oversees the department's Criminal Investigations Bureau, was named Monday to replace Police Chief Ruben Garcia when he retires at the end of this month.
Taylor takes office in his new role on Dec. 1.
“I am incredibly humbled and honored to have this opportunity," Taylor said at Monday's City Commission meeting. "It’s not about Ruben [Garcia], it’s not about Sammy, it’s about these men and women in the back of the room. It’s about the men and women of Lakeland Police Department who come to work every day to ensure the community is safe and the citizens of Lakeland feel comfortable."
Taylor was hired by the Lakeland Police Department in February 1989 and was promoted to sergeant in 1997, supervising officers in the Uniform Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigations Division, according to City Manager Shawn Sherrouse.
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Taylor was promoted to lieutenant in December 2002 and served in the Uniform Patrol Division, 911 Emergency Communications and the Criminal Investigations Division.
In 2015, he was promoted to captain, overseeing the Special Operations Division, and then transferred to supervising the Investigative Services Division.
In 2019, Taylor was promoted to assistant chief. In that role, he provided direction for the Special Services Bureau responsible for personnel and services including SWAT, K-9 units, school resource officers, traffic DUI enforcement, red-light cameras, crime prevention, 911 communications, planning and research, recruiting and training.
He was then transferred to his current role overseeing the Criminal Investigations Bureau.
Taylor said he feels community policing efforts, such as the school resource officers, neighborhood liaisons and Lakeland's Police Athletic League, are valuable.
"It's very important to me we continue to push community policing and continue that as a touchstone of what we do," he said.
Taylor said he has some changes in mind he's like to discuss with staff, declining to further elaborate other than stating it's related to internal policies.
Within weeks of taking office, Taylor will have the responsibility of overseeing Lakeland's street rollout of body-worn cameras to officers.
"It's a supply issue right now. If we can get them today, we'd have them out within 30 days I'd imagine," he said. "As soon as we can get them out, we'll get them out. We don't want them sitting in boxes in offices, they don't do any good sitting in a box in an office."
Extensive research into the pricing of bodycams and its the city's policy regarding use of the new equipment was done by Assistant Chief Hans Lehman, who also applied for the title of police chief.
In stepping up as chief, Taylor follows in the footsteps of his father, Sammy Taylor. His father served more than 30 years with the Polk County Sheriff's Office before taking on the role of interim police chief of more than six agencies, including Davenport and Haines City police departments.
"We talked, he's very happy for me," the younger Taylor said.
Taylor, 60, entered Florida's Deferred Retirement Option Program, commonly called DROP, in June. He has about four and a half years of service left.
"There's been some talk about extending DROP to eight years," he said. "If its mutually agreeable and the city wants me to stay, we will certainly have those conversations."
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland's next police chief is Sam Taylor, a 33-year veteran
