Article by Chuck Seaver
Clermont Police Chief Charles “Chuck” Broadway began his law enforcement career as a New York City Police Officer in 1996. Twenty-seven years later, Broadway will be appointed as the Florida Police Chief’s Association (FPCA) President, an honor not held by any Lake County area Police Chief in the organization’s seventy-one-year history. The installation ceremony will take place on August 1st at the FPCA’s summer conference.
The FPCA is the third-largest state police chiefs’ association in the United States. It is composed of more than 1,000 of the state’s top law enforcement executives and members. FPCA serves municipal police departments, airport police, college and university police, tribal police, airport police, railroad and port authority police, private business and security firms, as well as federal, state, and county law enforcement agencies. The FPCA has members representing every region of the state.
Chief Broadway expresses a mixture of excitement and humility about his new role as the FPCA President. Broadway currently serves on the organization’s executive board as well as the subcommittee on accountability. He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022 to serve on the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information Systems Council. He also serves on the State of Florida Criminal Justice Advisory Committee.
Chief Broadway is quick to point out that this appointment would not be possible without the tremendous support of his family, department, and community. Broadway confidently admits that “there is much work to be done.” A top priority according to Broadway is his desire to establish programs that will enhance and improve the health and wellness of each police officer to be the best that they can be both mentally and physically. “We have got to address the problems of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and the problems that it can cause for police officers,” says Broadway. Recent studies reveal that the average police officer will encounter 188 critical incidents during a twenty-year career versus 3-5 encounters during the lifetime of an average citizen. “The stigma of getting help as a sworn police officer for PTSD has to be prioritized in a way that officers are not reluctant to reach out and seek help anytime that they may need it,” says Broadway.
Another project that Broadway looks forward to implementing is a public relations, community awareness message that reinforces the honorability of the law enforcement career, including relationships with certain media outlets that only portray the negative side of law enforcement. “Police officers have thousands of positive interactions with citizens across the nation every day. Unfortunately, those positive interactions are not making it into the public view as a whole,” says Broadway. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (source) records in 2020 indicate that about 61.5 million United States residents had at least one police officer contact in the year 2018.
Chief Broadway recognizes the enormous need of filling vacant police officer positions in agencies across the nation and Central Florida is no exception. “We need to find a way to help agencies with getting the honorable career word out. When we ask the youth of the current generation why they have no interest in law enforcement, the answer is often either the job is too dangerous or because of the way that certain media outlets portray law enforcement,” says Broadway.
Chief Broadway is well known for his positive interactions with staff of the Clermont Police Department and the community as well. Broadway is recognized for reaching out to officers when he senses that the officer needs a little encouragement or is simply having an off-day.
Broadway is an active member of several community-oriented organizations including The Live Well Foundation of South Lake, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Kiwanis Club of Clermont.
