MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Patrick Lynn is rounding out his first week as head of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
“Transparency is critical,” he said while meeting with reporters for his first news conference. “Without transparency, there can be no trust,” he said.
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He briefly served as interim chief after Rick Maglione was reassigned in 2020 and after interim Chief Karen Dietrich was appointed and resigned 6 months later.
That’s when Lynn stepped in, it was temporary then, now it’s not.
“I think the first goal I would like is let everyone know I’m accessible. That I’m willing to listen, willing to learn, willing to work together to move forward. That’s the first short-term goal,” Lynn said.
Lynn takes the helm after former Chief Larry Scirotto was fired after just 6 months on the job.
He was accused of promoting minority officers because of skin color.
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The NAACP stood firmly behind the bi-racial, gay former chief.
“The first time I was here we created a workgroup from the community, actually 2 different groups. I plan to continue working with those groups and reaching out to them in the near future,” he said.
Changes began shortly after the police response to a Black Lives Matter protest where a woman was hit with a rubber bullet.
Lynn is billed as a stabilizing hand. His 36-year policing career began in Pembroke Pines in 1982 until 2007 when he left as Deputy Chief. He then served as Chief in Davie until retiring in 2017. He comes to Fort Lauderdale out of retirement.
“I need to spend time listening to all our personnel, need to spend time listening to our community from there we will develop what I refer to as a game plan,” Chief Lynn said.
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Lynn hopes to have that game plan in the next few weeks or months.
