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New Deputies Join Ranks Of County Law Enforcement

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

BRANDON - With the addition of 32 new deputies at Friday's graduation ceremony, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has added nearly 150 officers to its ranks this year.

There was a time when the agency didn't have nearly the training staff or the allocated funds to pull that off, Sheriff David Gee said.

"I'm proud that we can put that many out in one year," Gee said after the ceremony.

Hiring and training 60 patrol and 88 detention deputies in 2007 is noteworthy considering the sheriff's office toughened its hiring standards in 2005, faces a tighter budget in the coming year and has more than 100 vacancies in the patrol and detention divisions.

Gee said it would be easy for him to reduce the hiring standards and rapidly fill those slots, "but that would be the wrong thing to do."

"When things get rough in turbulent times, the standards need to go up," Gee said.

Friday's event was the first graduation held in the training division's new offices on Falkenburg Road, and it was the first time the agency combined ceremonies for law enforcement and detention classes.

The new deputies have completed months of coursework and 10 weeks of additional training put on by the sheriff's office's instructors.

Deputy Jose Cassillas-Gonzalez, who won an award for having top grades in his class, said he is excited about the final step in the training process - being paired with a field training officer for three months.

"Everybody is really looking forward to it," he said of his classmates.

The keynote speaker was Robert O'Neill, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, who both congratulated and cautioned graduates.

"You're held to a higher standard," he said. "Why? Because people see you in that uniform."

The two classes finished more than 250 hours of community service work as cadets, Maj. Jim Previtera said. They also collected donations among themselves to help a deputy whose 2-year-old child is battling leukemia.

Friday's ceremony ended after relatives pinned badges on the 16 patrol and 16 detention deputies.

As the audience left, families took photos of deputies between proud parents and smiling wives and children.

Diana Lugo of Brandon held tightly onto the arm of her son, detention Deputy Saulo Lugo, and recalled when he told her about his new career.

"I told him that if that's what you want, then go for it," she said. "With the training he got, I hope and pray he's ready for his new adventure."

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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