“Make no mistake. We are the good guys.”
Sheriff Rick Ramsay was standing before 300 people Friday evening at the College of the Florida Keys, but speaking directly to those in the first three rows — the 21 new law enforcement officers who swore to protect and serve their Keys communities.
The ceremony at Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center also included corrections officers, who had finished their training a few months ago, but were unable to have a ceremony.
Eight of the new graduates are now Key West Police officers, while six are Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Ramsay emphasized the importance of community policing and building positive relationships with people.
“If they know you, they’ll like you, they’ll trust you and they’ll respect you. If they don’t know you, they won’t,” Ramsay told the graduates. “We need to build relationships so people know us in the good times. Otherwise, they only see us at the worst times of their lives.”
Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg spoke of the extraordinary career choice each of the graduates had made.
“This is a profession like no other,” he said. “You are charged with protecting lives, but also authorized to take a life. One of our most important duties is to earn and keep the public’s trust.”
The new Key West officers include: Samuel Adorno, Esteban Andrade, Jack Gruba, John Ham, William Adam Marengo, Roy Owens, Christy Salter and Dylan Slaunwhite.
The new deputies for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office are: Brooke Colina, Eryka Del Cueto, Zachary Kalisek, Lee Mortensen, Louis Quad and Edward Torres Jr.
