BY SAMANTHA OUIMETTE
NNB Student Reporter
ST. PETERSBURG – Domestic violence. Theft. A shooting.
For Wellington Bond, these things comprise a normal day at the office.
Bond, 39, is an officer in the St. Petersburg Police Department, entering his fifth year of service after a career of what he describes as doing a little bit of everything, from delivering pizzas to working in retail.
After deciding to return to school to become a police officer, Bond says, he is now living his dream.
“When I was younger, my dream was to be in the Army. I think everyone should serve their country when given the opportunity,” said Bond, a native of Michigan. “Due to health issues, I was unable to enlist. So I’ve decided to serve my country by serving the community, and I get to live my dream every day.”
No two days are the same for Bond, which he says adds to the appeal of the job. He patrols some of the nicest neighborhoods in the city and some of the most poverty-stricken ones as well.
This particular day would see him in both environments, from a domestic-abuse follow-up involving a wealthy BP oil ship captain and his immigrant wife, to walking around a neighborhood of Section 8 housing searching for a man who was caught on camera picking up $300 in a convenience mart minutes after a woman dropped it. Bond identified the man, but since the money was found on the ground it could not be considered theft. There was no arrest.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day came at its conclusion, when Bond was called to help investigate the scene of a shooting. In the dead of night, he and other officers investigated abandoned houses for the alleged shooter and interviewed neighbors.
With a wife and three children, Bond notes that the excitement of the job comes with the knowledge that there may be a night when he never returns home to his family. He says that although he checks in with his wife as often as possible, the worry is still there, but that his family supports him because he’s doing what he loves.
Bond also gets to see first-hand the way new police Chief Anthony Holloway’s initiatives are benefitting the community. He notes that the most prominent initiative is the “park, walk, and talk” program, where officers are required to leave their cars for at least one hour each week and engage people in the community.
“Chief Holloway is big on always letting us know that he’s one of us, and he wants us to let people in St. Petersburg know that we’re just like them and hold the same concerns that they do,” Bond said. “Because it’s a new program it’s hard to assess the impact it’s had so far, but from my experience I can see that it’s helping people become less hesitant to talk to police. And that’s our end goal.”
The program is mutually beneficial since it helps officers see the community develop first-hand rather than from a car. An area such as Midtown is seeing growth in new businesses. Bond notes that this has led to rising crime rates, but that the crimes are less violent.
Though the job may be dangerous, Bond says that getting to see growth and improvement in areas such as Midtown is as an indicator that he and the Police Department are making strides there. Making St. Petersburg a better, safer place for himself and those around him, Bond says, is the most fulfilling job of all.
“I know it sounds cliché, but honestly, if I can make a difference in just one person’s life then this has all been worth it,” he said. “All the stress, all the worrying, it doesn’t matter. I just want to make this city a better place.”