BPD Officer of the Month

BRADENTON — Officer Steven Hogan has been named the Bradenton Police Department’s Officer of the Month for May 2014. Officer Hogan was on patrol in the 5300 block of Cortez Road West shortly after midnight on April 14 when he observed a suspicious vehicle, initially occupied by three occupants, enter an apartment complex parking lot.

He approached the parked vehicle and discovered that the front seat passenger had already fled the scene, so he initiated a consensual encounter with the remaining occupants. When he smelled what he believed to be marijuana, he had the driver exit, at which time he fled the scene on foot and was not apprehended.

Upon further investigation, Officer Hogan seized 167 grams of cocaine and learned the identification of the front seat passenger. Two arrest warrants for the suspect were secured, including a 1st Degree Felony count for Trafficking in Cocaine (28 – 100 Grams). Additionally, the rear seat passenger who remained in the vehicle was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.

Deputy Chief of Police Warren Merriman remarked, “Officer Hogan continues to be a proactive officer, and remarkably he was also named the Department’s Officer of the Month for February 2014. Officer Hogan’s strong work ethic also earned him a recent transfer to the department’s Casual Clothes Unit, which specializes in covert surveillance operations, and vice crimes.”

Officer Hogan was nominated for this award by Detective Lt. James Racky.