Longboat police chief begins community video series

By S.T. Cardinal
| 5:00 a.m. December 4, 2025

Longboat Key Police Chief Russ Mager speaks at a Rotary Club of Longboat Key meeting Tuesday, Sept. 16. Mager, who spent nearly three decades in law enforcement primarily in Delray Beach, said LBKPD has training requirements similar to the much larger city of Delray and that officers on the Key are well prepared for any event that may take place thanks to partnerships the department has with neighboring jurisdictions.

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Longboat Key Police Chief Russ Mager is now the narrator of “A Minute with Chief Mager,” which launched in late November on the town’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

Mager said in the introductory video that they will release new videos monthly or twice monthly.

“It’s information that’ll make your life easier,” Mager said. “It’s educational information, it’s crime prevention information and it’s general information overall that will allow us to share with you and make your lives so much better here on Longboat Key.”

Mager recently began his position as police chief, starting the job in August to replace former Chief George Turner, who left the department in January.

Mager has expressed his goal for the Longboat Key Police Department to be more visible. That is evident to anyone driving on Gulf of Mexico Drive, with cruisers stationed monitoring drivers’ speeds.

Mager also stresses transparency when describing goals for the department. “A Minute with Chief Mager” is an example of that goal of transparency.

Before his move to Longboat Key, Mager was with the Delray Beach Police Department, in Palm Beach County. Mager served as police chief for the department from 2022 until his short-lived retirement in June.

“Longboat is that little slice of paradise,” he said after he was picked from a pool of more than 75 applicants. “But I really wasn’t ready to give up. I have plenty left in the tank.”

author

S.T. Cardinal

S.T. "Tommy" Cardinal is the Longboat Key news reporter. The Sarasota native earned a degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a minor in environmental studies. In Central Florida, Cardinal worked for a monthly newspaper covering downtown Orlando and College Park. He then worked for a weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina where he earned South Carolina Press Association awards for his local government news coverage and photography.