Councilman Jon Burgess honored Officers Bradley Leeden, Officer of the Month in August 2015 and recipient of the Life Saving Award and Officer Carlos Garcia, Officer of the Month in September 2015. Councilman Burgess stated, “It is especially important that we honor and acknowledge the men and women who serve and protect our community and citizens every day.” With that, Captain David DeJohn, on behalf of Chief Rolle and the Command Staff, recognized Officer Leeden and Garcia and their roles in protecting the community.
Officer Bradley Leeden is a 25 year veteran of the Homestead Police Department, starting in 1990. He is a senior officer assigned to Uniform Patrol and he is a long time member of the HPD SWAT Team and is a Special Weapons Expert and Departmental Weapons Armorer. In August 2015, he was on patrol and came upon a female who was not breathing and was unresponsive. He began CPR and life-saving measures. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was called and took over the call and acknowledged that Officer Leeden; because of his quick response to the situation, saved the woman’s life. For that, he received his fourth, Officer of the Month commendation and his second Life Saving Award. He is a knowledgeable senior officer who is an asset to whomever he works for and is a devoted father.
Captain DeJohn then spoke about K-9 Officer Carlos Garcia, Officer of the Month in September 2015. Officer Garcia started working for the City of Homestead in 2005 as a Code Enforcement Officer and became a police officer in April 2009 and is currently assigned to dayshift patrol as a K-9 officer with his K-9 partner, Chance. In September 2015, responded to a call of bank robbery in progress and orchestrated a traffic stop. They approached the subject, took the subject into custody and recovered thousands of dollars. The FBI then took over the active case. For his response to the situation and keeping the whole take down safe, he received his Officer of the Month commendation.
