The smell of fresh coffee and Chick-fil-A breakfast filled the VFW Tuesday as residents gathered for this month’s “Breakfast with the Pros,” hosted by St. Cloud Main Street. The event offered an inside look into St. Cloud’s growing public safety operations, with Police Chief Doug Goerke and Fire Chief Jason Miller sharing updates on how the city is keeping the growing town safe.
“I think from a law enforcement perspective, we’re managing the growth very well,” Goerke said, noting that St. Cloud was ranked the safest city for its size in Florida in 2024. With six weeks left in the year, Goerke said overall crime is trending about 7% lower than last year: there were 669 crimes against persons in 2024, and so far in 2025, there have been 506; there were 1,143 crimes against property in 2024, and so far in 2025, there have been 744; and there were 342 crimes against society in 2024, and so far in 2025, there have been 347.
With a population of roughly 70,000 residents, Goerke said the city’s communication center has been busy. “For 2024, in context, we had a total of 93,000 calls,” he said. “Through November 1, 2025, we have had about 87,000 calls. So we’re getting close. We have about six weeks to go, so we’re trending right about the same area where we should be.” Of those 87,360 calls, 79,946 were for the police department and 7,414 were for the fire department.
Goerke also shared the numbers from the city’s school zone speed cameras, emphasizing that the cameras are designed more for safety than for revenue, and noting that the cameras aren’t triggered until a driver goes at least 11 miles over the speed limit. For May, August, September, October, and part of November this year, they have seen 15,781 citations issued, with the revenue from those citations going to the state, the school board, and the crossing guard program. “It’s not a money grab,” Goerke said. “If we make no money, I will be happy. Saying I hope we get people that get tickets … that’s not what this is about.”
Both chiefs highlighted the city’s new Drone First Responder program, designed to enhance public safety. The police department’s drones, operated from a renovated real-time intelligence center, provide video and thermal imaging to track incidents and provide critical information to first responders quickly. “We can launch a drone within 20 seconds while the fire department’s being activated and police officers are responding, and we can get overhead in seconds,” Goerke said. “It flies at 200 feet and at about 30 to 40 miles per hour. It will fly directly to the scene and can stay there.” Miller added that drones play a critical role for the fire department as well, helping assess structure fires, hazardous gas leaks, and other emergencies from above. Miller and Goerke emphasized that drones allow first responders to approach a scene with vital information, protect personnel, and provide real-time intelligence across the city.
Miller also highlighted the department’s expansion and training efforts. Thanks to a $9.5 million federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant, the city will hire 48 new firefighters. Two new stations will be built in areas that have highest response times, and a recently acquired building on Progress Lane is being remodeled to become the new fire headquarters. Meanwhile, the city’s firefighters continue rigorous training, putting in almost 40,000 hours of training this year.
The chiefs underscored the importance of community engagement, from mentoring local teens – from mentoring local teens through the fire department’s program for ages 14–21 and the police department’s explorer program for ages 14–20 – to working directly with residents during emergencies.
The presentations left attendees with a clear sense that public safety in St. Cloud is both high-tech and highly personal.
Executive Director Paula Stark closed the session with an invitation to the next “Breakfast with the Pros,” in December, which will feature Florida State Main Street and the new app they will be rolling out for Main Streets across the state.
