Franklin F. Fitzgerald, MS, CPM

Lieutenant Franklin F. Fitzgerald serves with the Lakeland Police Department as the Officer-in-Charge of the agency’s Resource Officer Section and Community Services Unit. The Resource Officer Section includes College and School Resource Officers who serve Florida Southern College and K-12 schools throughout Lakeland. The Community Services Unit is responsible for crime prevention programs, elderly services, community outreach, and related public safety initiatives. 

He began his law enforcement career in the United States Army, where he served as a Military Policeman with the 3rd Infantry Division. During his military service, he deployed to Kuwait, Bosnia, and Iraq, and received an Honorable Discharge in late 2003. 

After the military, he joined the Lakeland Police Department in 2004. As a police officer, his assignments included serving as a Field Training Officer and working in the agency’s DUI Enforcement Unit. While assigned to DUI enforcement, he conducted nearly 3,000 impaired driving investigations and became a six-time recipient of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Florida Century Award. 

After promotion to Sergeant, he supervised officers in the Uniform Patrol Division. In 2014, he transferred to the Polk State College Kenneth C. Thompson Institute of Public Safety, where he coordinated basic law enforcement academy classes and trained hundreds of future Florida law enforcement officers. During his tenure, he assisted the academy in earning CALEA reaccreditation with excellence under the Gold Standard Assessment model. 

Lieutenant Fitzgerald maintains certification as a Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission instructor in general topics, firearms, and vehicle operations. He is also an active Drug Recognition Expert Instructor and teaches several advanced and specialized CJSTC courses, including Line Supervision, Instructor Techniques, and Field Training Officer for Law Enforcement. 

Lieutenant Fitzgerald holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice: Public Administration from Liberty University. He graduated summa cum laude from Keiser University with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus on Criminal Justice and Legal Studies. He is a graduate of the 74th session of the University of Louisville Southern Police Institute Command Officer Development Course and earned the Certified Public Manager designation from the Florida Center for Public Management at Florida State University.