A lot has changed in the year since Winter Haven Public Safety Director Charlie Bird took charge of the city’s fire and police departments.
“I am proud of the employees,” said Bird, 52. “I think the majority of them have — even if they still don’t understand it — they embrace the model. They work better together.”
His day-to-day business found him immediately assisting the search for a new deputy fire chief, hatching succession plans for promotion in the fire department, setting up a design team for the project to move Fire Station 3 from a modular building to something more permanent, encouraging the police force to get out in the community more, and launching a new Neighborhood Initiative to help bring those in danger of code fines into compliance.