Deputy Defends Toughest Cop Title

BROOKSVILLE - Dane Jenkins admits he was a bit of a runt growing up.

His small frame - 112 pounds at high school graduation - earned him constant teasing as a kid.

Now 30 years old, Jenkins still isn't the biggest guy on the force at the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. But, apparently, size doesn't matter.

On June 16, Jenkins officially took the title of toughest cop in Florida after a grueling daylong competition at the Florida Law Enforcement games. Or, to be more accurate, he defended his title after taking home the gold medal last year, too.

Now he's setting his sights on August, when the International Police & Fire Games comes to Orlando. His finishing score this year was just 300 points shy of the world record in his event, so Jenkins is confident that extra training between now and then will give him the edge.

There's just one catch.

"It's the exact same event, but I'll be going up against more than 100 competitors from around the world," Jenkins said.

At the latest competition in Venice, Jenkins was pitted against roughly 20 other people. Each was dead serious about the games and it showed in the final score. Jenkins won by 200 points, the equivalent of about eight chin ups.

There were plenty of other challenges too. The day began with a three-mile run and Jenkins had scarcely gotten a half mile into the cross-country course when the thunderclouds overhead opened up.

The rest of the run was spent slogging through mud and wiping rain out of his eyes. To his chagrin, Jenkins had left his extra pair shoes at home.

The 100-yard dash was the next scheduled event, but it was postponed to let the rain-slick track dry. While Jenkins competed in the pool, his two buddies made a desperate bid to dry out his shoes with the hand dryers in the bathroom.

As the day continued, the long hours spent in training began paying off. Jenkins bought a 16-pound shot-put after the last competition ("the shipping cost was enormous") and marked off the vacant lot next to his house in Spring Hill. He threw it 36 feet - a five-foot improvement over his last record.

Hours spent climbing the rope at Fox Chapel Middle School's gym also gave him an advantage. He remembered the tips local weightlifters gave him before bench pressing 295 pounds. Having the community behind him was a huge help and made his victory even sweeter. As for the hours of his time spent in training, "it helps being single," Jenkins said with a grin.

If anything, the gold medal is a validation for the scrawny Jenkins of times past.

"If you have the heart and the drive, you can accomplish anything," he said.