Pensacola Planning Celebration For American Idol Contestant

(Pensacola, FL) -- The city of Pensacola wants to show how proud it is of a singer gaining fans around the country. Pensacola native Keyla Richardson is in the final 7 of American Idol, and she'll find out Monday if she makes it to the top 5. If she makes the top 3, she'll get a parade and concert in Pensacola May 6th as part of American Idol's hometown hero celebration. Mayor D.C. Reeves says he's working with Escambia County officials on the details. He also says the city is so excited for Richardson's journey, and she needs our full support to ensure she can get the celebration she deserves.

Escambia County Middle Schoolers Compete in First Annual STEM Showdown

Escambia County, FL (Newsradio 92.3) -- Escambia County middle school students put their classroom skills to the test Saturday at the first annual ECPS STEM Showdown. Teams from six schools including Bellview, Beulah, Brown Barge, Ferry Pass, and Cordova Park competed in engineering, physics, chemistry, and robotics challenges designed around actual grade-level curriculum. Sixth graders built towers out of straws and tape, seventh graders navigated a wave maze, and eighth graders identified mystery substances in a chemistry lab. A robotics competition featured autonomous robots completing tasks without any human control. Organizers say the event is about turning classroom learning into real-world problem solving.

New PPD Chief Identifies Records System, Training Facility as Early Priorities

Pensacola, FL (Newsradio 92.3) -- Pensacola Police Chief Eric Winstrom is officially a certified Florida law enforcement officer, and he says nobody gave him a free pass just because he's the chief.

Winstrom, who is seven weeks into the job after coming from Grand Rapids, Michigan, completed mandatory out-of-state certification requirements over the past two weeks, including a driving course at Brunson Field, a full day on the firing range at the Escambia County Sheriff's range, and a state-mandated written exam he passed Wednesday. He says the experience gave him a firsthand look at the training his officers go through and left him more optimistic than ever about the department's foundation.

First Amendment Auditors

Winstrom weighed in on the ongoing First Amendment auditor conversation following a recent viral incident involving an Escambia County Sheriff's deputy. He says training officers to handle provocateurs comes down to a simple mindset shift — telling recruits from day one that roughly 30 percent of their pay is essentially compensation for having their feelings hurt. He says the best protection those auditors have is often the badge and gun of the officer they're trying to provoke, because the same behavior in a civilian encounter would likely get a much stronger reaction.

What He's Seeing With New Eyes

Asked what early improvements he's identified, Winstrom pointed to two areas — the department's records management system and the lack of a dedicated PPD training and firing range. He says public-facing data access needs to be easier, and says he's open to exploring a public-private partnership to address the range situation. On the positive side, he says he's encouraged by the quality of officers currently in the academy pipeline — including three lateral candidates who came from as far away as Wisconsin to apply to PPD.

FLOCK Cameras

Winstrom says the debate over FLOCK license plate reader cameras is, in his view, a straightforward one, he calls it a ground ball from a law enforcement perspective. He says if community members have sincere questions about the technology, he's willing to do a public presentation and answer them directly.

Community Policing

Winstrom says building positive non-enforcement relationships between officers and the community — especially young people — is a priority he plans to expand. He says early positive interactions with police can shape how people respond in crisis situations years down the road. He'll get a chance to put that philosophy into practice this Saturday when PPD joins the Escambia Warriors Special Olympics team for a basketball game at the downtown YMCA at one o'clock. The event is open to the public.

You can listen to the full interview from Pensacola's Morning News with Andrew McKay here.