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Hernando Today

Sheriff's Office Volunteers Honored With Annual Breakfast

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: October 5, 2008

SPRING HILL - Not one in the packed house could recall a moment of danger or bedlam that ended with someone catching a criminal in the act.

Nobody had tackled a burglar escaping from the scene of a heist. No one had wrestled a gun from a bank robber.

That didn't matter to Sheriff Richard Nugent, who was joined by a group of deputies to serve breakfast Saturday to the more than 400 volunteers who monitor the streets in their neighborhoods or log hundreds of hours per year at the station.

The sheriff knows one thing for certain. Their mere presence makes the streets safer.

"From volunteers at the office to those volunteers with the neighborhood crime watch groups, this is one way to say 'thank you' to them," Nugent said as he took a break from serving bacon and eggs to those standing in line.

The appreciation breakfast took place at the Sand Hill Boy Scout Reservation.

Some of the attendees wore matching "Crime Watch" shirts. Others were dressed in casual clothes and brought their spouses or other guests.

The mood was light-hearted as prizes were raffled off throughout the morning. When the biscuits in the oven were ready, the kitchen servers would cheer each time the bell rang.

"It's the little things that amuse us I guess," Nugent joked.

Most of the volunteers in attendance Saturday were seniors. Retirees often are the ones who sign up to join crime watch groups. They look for ways to occupy their time and they come from a generation that's "not afraid of hard work," said the sheriff.

"One night I was driving near the storage compound and I noticed some black smoke," said Crime Watch volunteer Bill Duncan. "I called it in right away. It could have spread."

Duncan, who lives in Clover Leaf Farm Mobile Home Park in Brooksville, said he was drawn to the volunteer work because of the number of senior women who live there. He wanted to do his part to protect them.

He has done it for more than six years. Each year, he attends the appreciation breakfast and sees first hand the number of crime watch volunteers who live in Hernando County.

"It helps deter crime," he said. "(Criminals) know you're out there."

The sheriff's show of appreciation started with a lunch. Soon thereafter, it was switched to a breakfast. Attendance grew.

Joseph Chiavaroli, a veteran of the Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary and head of the Crime Watch unit at Deerfield Estates, said it was "rewarding" that the sheriff's office holds an annual breakfast for the volunteers.

His group, which he calls "one of the best" in Hernando County, regularly meets with Nugent and his deputies so they can brief them on "what to look for," he said.

Deerfield Estates has nearly 200 homes and is located north of Spring Hill Drive. Its volunteers remain active. They read the newspapers, research crime trends online and conduct six patrols per day, Chiavaroli said. They also meet every third Saturday of the month.

"We have no crime at all," he said. "We attribute that to our people."

The sheriff's office receives calls from volunteers who think they see marijuana grow houses or suspicious vehicles, Nugent said. Sometimes those reports lead to arrests.

"Just having them out there is a good thing," said the sheriff. "They're our eyes and ears."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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