2019-08-06 B. Taylor Community Hero Read info record...,
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Bettye Taylor is the truest definition of a Community Hero. Holding the rank of Detective
Sergeant at the Okeechobee Police Department, she proudly and tirelessly serves her
community in numerous ways, going above and beyond her normal duties. As the supervisor o
the department's detective division, she is responsible for supervising and overseeing all
aspects of investigatory work performed. The work of her division is vital in seeing that crime
victims are made whole and that the perpetrators of those crimes are brought to justice, often
the result of complex and protracted investigations. In addition, she has taken on the
responsibilities of the agency's IT officer which includes being the liaison for the department's
CAD vendor, its primary IT company, as well as multiple law enforcement databases at both the
state and national level to include the Florida Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles,
RLEX, the Florida and National Crime Information Centers, the Florida Dept. of Law
Enforcement, and Florida's Integrated Criminal History System.
Detective Sergeant Taylor understands that a community's children are its most precious,
impressionable, and sometimes most vulnerable class. Coupled with that understanding is a
deep sense of duty to protect in her heart, so she also serves as the department's liaison to the
Florida Department of Children and Families as well as the nationwide Internet Crimes Against
Children taskforce, and serves on the governance board for the Children's Mental Health
System of Care for Okeechobee.
As if all of that wasn't impressive enough, Detective Sergeant Bettye Taylor somehow finds the
time to be an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Okeechobee, the American Legion Post 64
Auxiliary, Friends of Okeechobee Main Street, and holds the position of secretary for the
Suncoast Mental Health Board of Directors.
Bettye Taylor does all of these things not because she has to, but because she wants to. She
does not get paid any extra money, nor does she expect that. She does not receive any
accolades or awards, nor does she expect that. She does all of this because she feels she must.
Because if she doesn't, who will? She is the standard that others should be measured against.
Bettye Taylor is the truest definition of a Community Hero.