Officer of the Year Named, But Stays Anonymous

St. Petersburg will announce its Officer of the Year for 2012 today at a downtown luncheon.

And the winner is... a secret!

An undercover narcotics detective with the St. Petersburg Police Department has been selected for the 49th annual award. He is being lauded as a key player in drug seizures, prosecutions and breaking up narcotics rings in Tampa Bay.

Yet the nature of his work requires that the detective's name and identity stay confidential.

Mayor Bill Foster and Chief of Police Charles "Chuck" Harmon will be on hand
to honor the undercover detective at a ceremony and luncheon today at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.

The press announcement to the Thursday event states:

"Please be aware that the detective's undercover status will require us to
maintain the confidentiality of the detective's identity, since this detective
still operates in an undercover capacity. Television news reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the ceremony, but they must obtain video of the ceremony in such a way as to not reveal the identity of the detective."

His achievements, however, are not so secret. According to the police department, he had "a banner year."

Undercover Officer's Achievements

The detective was key in infiltrating and dismantling several drug organizations in the Tampa Bay area and around the state of Florida.

His work led to drug and cash seizures, as well as federal indictments against major drug traffickers and known violent offenders, including one drug trafficker from the Miami area shipping multiple kilograms of cocaine into the Tampa bay area.

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