News

Name: Richard Lincoln

Years in Lantana: 10

Biggest Hurdle: Keeping Lantana’s “fishing village” image while fighting big-city-type crime

Last Day: Sept. 27

Name: Jeff Tyson

Years in Lantana: 11

Biggest Hurdle: Following the popular Lincoln with a smaller department

First Day: Sept. 27

The white cat from the litter born in the impound lot lays spread out in the chief’s desk chair, barely opening his eyes to see who entered the office.

“Some departments have canine units. We have a feline unit,” Lantana Police Chief Rick Lincoln says, explaining how he shares his office with George — or maybe it’s Ringo. Nobody seems to remember which cat got which Beatle’s name.

The station mascots just go with the territory for the man who has run the small-town department — often wrestling with big-time crime — for the past decade.

Lincoln hangs up his badge this month, ending a career in law enforcement that began in the early 1970s as a member of the third Palm Beach Community College police
academy class. His career took him through Delray Beach Police Department, the
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office before taking over 10 years ago in Lantana. But he always fit right into the town that spans little more than two square miles and holds only 10,000 inhabitants.

“Chief Lincoln is one of the best we’ve ever had. He is a people person, and I’ve loved working with him,” said Jack Carpenter, a 51-year resident who volunteers with the Citizen Observer Patrol program. “He’s jumped right in there and got involved with everything.”

“I don’t think I know everybody, but I do know a lot of people,” Lincoln says. “In a community like this, it shows how important it is that the police chief know people.”

He was a calm, unifying force for the town going through the chaos of firing its city manager and the retirement of the former police chief in the late 1990s. His experience would ultimately prove invaluable as Lantana acknowledged it wasn’t a small fishing village anymore, but a diverse community facing crime like much bigger cities.

Then-new City Manager Michael Bornstein asked him for 10 years, and he’s given 10 — almost exactly. “I wanted people to have a sense that we were in this for the long term,” Bornstein said. “To find someone of his caliber was tremendous.”

The man who seems more comfortable giving praise than getting it was responsible for helping Lantana computerize its record-keeping — previously they were on index cards, Bornstein said —get the department accredited, put computers in police cars and create a huge youth program that includes an officer at Lantana Middle School.

“We strive not to say we’re a small town because we don’t deal with small-town problems, Bornstein said. “We changed it to ‘hometown’ in our mission statement. Chief Lincoln got that he’s part of that definition of hometown.”

While he’s made his reputation at police headquarters through major cases like the arrest of human traffickers who kidnapped an 18-year-old from Guatemala, and a double homicide involving the Top 6 gang, the townspeople know him as much through his regular visits to the Lantana Chamber of Commerce and his work with the Kiwanis.

Look for Lincoln to be on the floor with the wrench, putting together bicycles every year during the Hypoluxo Lantana Kiwanis’ annual bicycle giveaway.

“He also chairs the Kiwanis community golf tournament held every year,” said Ron Washam, president of the Greater Lantana Chamber and a fellow Kiwanian.

“He’s been a great public servant,” Washam said. “There’s a lot of mixed emotions going around at this time. We have a lot of confidence in Jeff Tyson. He’s been a real pro. But Rick brought the department to the next level.”

While Lincoln made significant advances, the Lantana Police Department hasn’t been immune to budget constraints, which has shrunk the department by six positions
in the last three budget years — including the loss of the two captain positions. When Capt. Jeff Tyson becomes Chief Tyson, his position won’t be filled.

“Jeff’s certainly going to have his hands full with two divisions but no captains,” Lincoln said.

But Tyson’s biggest challenge may be following in Lincoln’s large footsteps.

Like Lincoln, Tyson served in Delray Beach and at Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office before moving to the Lantana Police Department in 1999. Both men pride themselves on
being accessible, fair and committed to getting the job done.

With a smaller staff, “its going to be a challenge,” Tyson said. “I’ll be a bit more of a hands-on police chief. But I expect a smooth transition, and there’s no major changes that need to be accomplished. I’m inheriting a department that’s run very well.”