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Alright, well thank you ladies and gentlemen,
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welcome to patrolling in paradise, the podcast.
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I'm Chris Hall, I'm joined as always by Gabriella Ruiz.
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Gabriella say hello.
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Hello everybody.
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Alright, we are excited to be talking here today with Gillian Treadway communications operator
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as part of our Hurricane Charlie 20th anniversary coverage.
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Gillian, good morning.
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Good morning, how are you guys doing today?
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We're doing fantastic, how are you?
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Doing alright.
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So you are, you're a unique perspective from the Hurricane Charlie situation because you came on,
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I believe your official date of hire was real close to the actual date Charlie hit, is that correct?
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It was, it was on August 10th.
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August 10th, and Hurricane Charlie hit on?
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The 13th.
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Friday the 13th.
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Oh, that makes sense.
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How long, or how far in advance did you know your hire date as compared to your, the hurricane was coming?
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Oh, I'm trying to think, like honestly that's a little bit of a blur for me.
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I think it was just a matter of, I knew I was getting hired, I knew there was something cooking out in the gulf,
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and we weren't really sure where any of that was going, and then it started to really start to have a track,
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and then they told me my hire, you know, they said come in on the 10th, and I said okay, and that was my official hire date,
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and then they said hey, come in on Friday, and I went, I don't know if that's such a good idea.
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The two things just kind of started to merge together.
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Yeah, that cone of uncertainty looked really, really uncertain for a little bit.
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Well, as long as you weren't uncertain about taking the job, that's what really matters here.
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That's actually something that I always wanted, I always wanted to work in like public service.
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My father was a firefighter, so he did 20 years up in Syracuse, New York, in the Syracuse Fire Department,
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and then he said, you know, when I said I wanted to be a firefighter originally, and he said no you don't.
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Which really means no, I don't want you to.
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And I said well how else can I serve my community?
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You've been doing it now for two decades.
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Yes.
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That's an incredible thing, just in itself because of how much stress there is back there,
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how much constant emotion you guys are struggling through.
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I shouldn't say struggling through because you're not struggling with it.
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No, honestly, I mean after, at first, absolutely, absolutely.
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The first time you get a certain type of call, that's okay, now you've been through it.
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And every time you go through it, it's a little bit less.
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Of course there are caveats to that where some things will always be hard.
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But every day is a new day, every day is something different, and you never know what you're going to get.
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But you learn how to adjust to it.
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So the stress is not so much stress, it's just, okay, so, alright, I know how to get through this.
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Even from an outsider perspective, I've had the opportunity to go into the communications room and kind of just listen.
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And it's amazing to me to see one call, they're giving directions on how to give CPR,
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and then the next call, they're trying to get information, and it's just that quick bounce back and forth to different types of calls.
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I truly, truly am so appreciative of what you do.
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Well, I'm glad to hear.
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So on an average day, you deal with a call, you hang up, you move on to the next call.
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And as you said, you kind of learn and you get better and better as you go how to manage that internally.
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What was it like during Charlie?
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Charlie was its own thing.
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Being that it was my first day and I had no idea what I was expected to do, what the expectations were of me rather.
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I went in to learn, to watch, to be, and more often than not, I was a gopher, to be honest.
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And most of the things I did was, hey, I need you to go get this for me.
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And I'm going, okay, where's that?
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But I got paper and food and water and just kind of ran around for the most part all day.
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Actually, it was when we, two decades ago, it was when there was nowhere to send your family, your family came to work.
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So we actually, there were people that brought their family in and there was a bunch of little kids and they were like, oh, well, she's new.
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And they were like, hey, you're a babysitter.
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So I got to do that for a little while until we found out that it was coming towards us.
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That's treadway daycare for those of you that are listening.
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So we moved from this building over to the jail, which was our backup center at the time because we didn't have EOC.
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EOC was here in the building.
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It was right next to communications.
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But they decided that it was probably in our best interest to be in a more fortified building.
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So they sent us over to the jail and that was an experience.
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So we actually set up communications and EOC in the hallway of the visitation hall of the jail.
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And between EOC and us, instead of walls, we had cardboard boxes.
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So there's cardboard boxes here and cardboard boxes here.
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And you could walk through them.
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But that was the only buffer we had for sound.
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And let me tell you that building that hallway is not meant for being able to hear.
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Oh, I'm sure.
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And we'll be hearing from somebody from Corrections later on in the show as well.
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But I'm glad that you could share and kind of tie those pieces together for us.
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That's a pretty neat perspective.
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Yeah, it was really a monumental, like you really solidify your first day of work.
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A lot of people can't really remember their first day.
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Oh, no, I remember.
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That had to be so interesting because you're in a learning environment already when you're starting a new job.
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And then you add that layer of Hurricane Charlie to it at any point when you were kind of had a moment to regroup your thoughts.
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Did you think what did I get myself into?
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I mean, honestly, no, I really didn't.
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I think it stems back to my dad, you know, serve your community if you can help help.
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And I was there to help.
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And I wanted to do anything that I could.
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Actually, I was there from about 5.30 in the morning until 11.30 at night.
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And they said, go home.
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We'll call you when we want you to come back.
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And I went, OK.
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And after that, it was a couple days later, I got a phone call.
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Do you still want to work here?
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And I said, I've just been waiting for the phone call.
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So, no, I mean, there was really never a point in time where I didn't want to do it.
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I just I think I just kind of knew that was where I was supposed to be.
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That you're calling.
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And here we are two decades later.
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Yeah, and still saving lives every single day.
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It's an incredible thing.
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So what in real briefly, because I know we're running out of time here, but what can you tell us about the changes or the developments that you've seen in your time here?
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So Charlie was chaos, right?
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It was just utter absolute chaos.
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And now we've been through more since then.
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We've been through other hurricanes, other storms, other crises.
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Can you talk about some of those changes?
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So I think the biggest change was when they built the EOC building over on airport.
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That's made such an incredible difference in where like logistically where everybody was placed and to be able to know that there's a plan of action that this is coming.
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We know what we're going to do and we know where everything is, what it's going to be like and how we can best serve and and even serve each other because we have our communications room now and we have somewhere that we can go that is absolutely, you know, dedicated to us, to what we need to do our job to help the community.
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And that in itself was such a huge difference because before it was like, OK, well, we're just going to plug some things in here and there and hope that we can answer all the phones.
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And now it's like, this is just another communication center for us.
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So it's it's a huge difference.
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It makes it makes it so much more streamlined to be able to anticipate everything that's coming and not be worried about, oh my gosh, what's going to happen.
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So I think it's a lot better to have the new EOC that it's not even new anymore, but in my head it is.
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Yeah, yeah, well, 20 years is a long time.
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So I mean, I know you've got more lives to save, so we're going to thank you for joining us today and for sharing this awesome perspective and very quickly.
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Any last words you want to share with anybody listening that may be thinking, hey, maybe I could be a dispatcher too.
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Oh my gosh, do it.
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Do it, do it, do it.
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I can't I cannot tell you enough like how meaningful it is for me to be able to get up every day for 20 years and say, I'm going to go make a difference today.
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And I don't think of myself as a hero.
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That's not what it's about.
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It's it's not that at all.
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It's how can I help?
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It's just how can I help?
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How can I make a difference?
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How can I, you know, so many people worry about the world.
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Oh my gosh, what's happening to the world?
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This is how you make a difference.
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This is how you help.
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It's everybody making their little contribution makes the big difference for your whole community and it starts at your community and that's where it goes worldwide.
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So if you think about doing it, if you think you might want it or even even if you're just curious, the worst that can happen is it doesn't work out.
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So do it.
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Take the chance.
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Well, we're sure we're certainly appreciative of the work that you do.
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Absolutely.
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All right.
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Well, that's going to wrap us up here for this episode or this this segment of this episode, I should say of patrolling in Paradise, the podcast.
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So again, Jillian, thank you so much for being here.
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Thank you for sharing your stories and thank you for the work that you do.
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We love when we get to talk with you guys.
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It's hard to get you guys out of that room, but it's a pleasure for us when we get to.
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So thanks so much for joining us today.
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Thank you for having me.
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I appreciate it.
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We really appreciate you.
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All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you.
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Welcome back to the show.
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Once again, my name is Chris Hall.
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I'm joined by Gabriella Ruiz.
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Gabriella, give him another hello.
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Hello, everybody.
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All right.
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We are joined today by Tom Rogers, executive director at the Charlie County Jail.
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So welcome aboard Tom.
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Thanks for being a part of the show today.
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Thank you so much.
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We're really going to enjoy it.
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Yeah, we're glad that you're here.
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And as you know, we've already discussed, we're talking about Hurricane Charlie coverage.
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So this was our the 20th anniversary of that terrible storm.
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And you were actually here with the sheriff's office back then working in the jails.
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That correct?
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That is correct.
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And also a little bit about that.
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What was your role?
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What were you doing?
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I was a captain back then.
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And of course, with the sheriff's office, any time there's any type of big incident,
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natural disaster coming, all of us have to come to work.
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So we were all at work, 100% of our staff, everyone was there.
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And my role was as a captain was to oversee the jail.
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Wow.
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So were you, because I know now when a storm hits, correction staff have to bunker down
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in the jail.
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Was it the same back then?
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Was it down for the storm in the jail?
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Yes.
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And it actually was a lot different back then than what it is today.
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It is still accurate.
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100% of our staff comes in depending on how bad the storm is going to be.
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But back then the jail was the most sound building the county had on the port of Panagordeside.
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So we had fire department, we had law enforcement part, you know, as far as canine communications.
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So our jail gets pretty full back then as far as any type of natural disaster.
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So this was before our emergency operations center was built?
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That is correct.
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So everybody had to go to jail?
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Everyone was there.
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Yes, that is correct.
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We're looking all the way back on the golden days there.
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That was a beautiful time when Charlie hit and everything got uprooted essentially.
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So EOC is not there.
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You said everybody comes and sets up at the jail.
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How does that work when you've got a jail full of inmates?
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Well, they're not in a secure part of the jail.
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Everyone is on the outside and the unsecure part of it.
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Like we had a big hallway on the second floor of the jail that was there for visitation,
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video visitation or in person visits, but there's glass in between the security.
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So most of our support staff and stuff like that would go up to that hallway.
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That's where communications set up.
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So they weren't in with the jail operation.
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So it really didn't affect the inmate population.
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That's a good thing.
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Yes, definitely.
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No, no.
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Just more risk at that point.
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And I'm assuming after the storm, trying to not only deal with the security of inmates,
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but was their power loss and things like that.
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Logistically, what goes into that post storm?
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Well, the post storm, looking at Charlie and looking back, I started in 1993.
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We had had no storms from that point until 2004.
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The Sheriff's Office is excellent about having plans, procedures and everything to cover
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different things that you could be exposed to.
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But I don't think any of us could plan for the significance of Hurricane Charlie.
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So a lot of stuff was actually developed during the storm.
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Different ideas, different innovations to make it easier for us to operate.
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And it was pretty much on the second sometimes.
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One night we lost our generator and it was dark.
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So when the generator goes out, we only had one back then.
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We lost the generator and all the emergency lights kick on, but with a jail that size
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and everything concrete, it was still dark.
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50% of our staff is working any given time.
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50% is resting.
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That particular night, I was resting.
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It was late at night and I'd worked all day.
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Generator goes off, emergency lights kick on, staff are jumping up running like crazy
229
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:32,000
because they automatically knew that if we lose power, then we've got to go add extra security to the pods
230
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,000
in all areas within the jail.
231
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,000
And that's exactly what they did.
232
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,000
And they had to get dressed as best they could and run out there myself.
233
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,000
And this is a funny story.
234
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,000
I shouldn't be telling this.
235
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,000
Myself here.
236
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,000
I was the only one there that night.
237
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,000
I was the highest rank in the captain.
238
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:55,000
The major was not there that night and the generator goes off.
239
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000
So I immediately, I don't even get dressed.
240
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000
So I'm in a pair of shower slides, shorts and a t-shirt.
241
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000
I run to where the generator is.
242
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,000
My number one priority is to find out what's going on.
243
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,000
How quick can we get this fixed?
244
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,000
Is it an issue that's going to be long-term, short-term?
245
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,000
So I go to the generator.
246
00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:18,000
The county's already out there and they're looking at it and basically it came down to a part that we needed.
247
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,000
And they're trying to figure out a way to get a part.
248
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,000
In the meantime, we had already communications knew we had lost the generator.
249
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,000
So protocol, we have to have an outside perimeter.
250
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,000
You lose power in a jail.
251
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:36,000
You've got to provide security staff around the entire perimeter of the jail just in case.
252
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,000
Well, I didn't think anything about it.
253
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,000
And I'm sitting there at the generator and all of a sudden a douche and a half shows up.
254
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:47,000
And a bunch of military guys start jumping out in full uniform with helmets, M16s, everything.
255
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,000
And the commander jumps out and comes running toward justice.
256
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,000
Who's in charge?
257
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,000
I'm looking and saying, oh my God, I'm going to have to save me.
258
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,000
And I'm in shower slides, shorts and a T-shirt.
259
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,000
So I said me and he's probably telling that same story today too.
260
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,000
Saying you would not believe the guy that was in charge of that jail back then and Charles.
261
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,000
Running around in slippers and shorts.
262
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:12,000
But what a night that was.
263
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:13,000
But they fixed the generator.
264
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,000
Everything got back to normal.
265
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:23,000
But you know, the biggest thing back then, we had the generator only ran basic necessities.
266
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000
No air conditioning, no nothing.
267
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:33,000
So when you have a jail like that built out of concrete, you can imagine how quick, especially in August, how quick it gets hot inside that jail.
268
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,000
Humidity starts building up.
269
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,000
The floors got slick.
270
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,000
And I don't remember who came up with the idea, but it was ingenious.
271
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:46,000
And it was a simple idea, someone put a hair net on their shoes and that protected them from slipping.
272
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:52,000
So of course, we immediately got hair nets out to everyone so they didn't slip and fall on the concrete.
273
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,000
It's just incredible.
274
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:58,000
Some of the ideas and stuff that come up, even in a crisis when everyone's probably thinking about their family and their houses,
275
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,000
but they're still thinking about what can make our operations safe and secure.
276
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:13,000
Yeah. Now, I don't know, it sounds like a lot of the procedures were developed during Charlie for some of the storms that we've gone through since.
277
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,000
Have you seen anything like Charlie in the 20 years?
278
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,000
Charlie was devastating.
279
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:27,000
And the rest of the storms when I was still employed with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, because I did retire at one point.
280
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000
Irma came through, which was nothing really compared to Charlie.
281
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,000
Charlie was the worst storm in my career before I retired.
282
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:42,000
And it really opened up a lot of concerns and issues that, yeah, like I said, we had good plans and procedures,
283
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,000
but there are some things you just, there's always going to be variables that you don't think of.
284
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,000
So one of the biggest things was we didn't have water.
285
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:55,000
So we had to bring in water and then we had to give showers to the inmates.
286
00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:05,000
And the idea came up to bring the fire trucks in and actually use the hoses and put them in the emergency yards or in the yards and allow the inmates to take showers in a yard.
287
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000
That was the way we gave showers through the hoses.
288
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,000
Wow.
289
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,000
They'd spray them right through the, right into the yard.
290
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,000
The inmates got a shower and it just got a shower like that.
291
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000
It's just awesome, you know, to actually have something like that take place.
292
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:28,000
So, but now we've got a well that we can turn on and we can provide water to all the yards as well or provide water to the pods and stuff like that.
293
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,000
So nice.
294
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Charlie did do a lot of destruction, but at the same time it helped us safeguard against future storms.
295
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:36,000
If that makes sense.
296
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,000
Yeah, absolutely.
297
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:45,000
I'm sure Hurricane Ian was kind of an intimidating one too for you guys, but having those lessons learned from Charlie made a big difference.
298
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,000
I'm sure.
299
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,000
I guess I was not employed during Ian, but it's another little story.
300
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:56,000
I had retired and we had traveled for the entire time.
301
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,000
My wife needed a medical procedure.
302
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,000
So we scheduled it and she needed a month.
303
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,000
So we scheduled it.
304
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:08,000
Lo and behold, I was so nice to get ready to get away from all the hurricanes in Florida.
305
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,000
I came back for Ian.
306
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,000
I was here at the house of Northport went through in lost power for a week.
307
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
And so I just can't get away from the hurricanes.
308
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,000
I just can't even if I leave for a year and a half, come back for one month.
309
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:20,000
I still get hit.
310
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:27,000
Well, we are glad that you are back at the helm over there.
311
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:32,000
And I feel like you kind of came full circle because you left the jail and you became the chief deputy here.
312
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:38,000
We called you Colonel as I recall that's right when I started with the agency and you were you were doing a lot on this side of the house.
313
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:44,000
And to see you back, you know, kind of where your roots were that that's that's a great site for us.
314
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:48,000
I think to see you go back where you belong, where you fit, you know, not that you didn't fit here.
315
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,000
Whoopsie.
316
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,000
And I really appreciate it.
317
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:57,000
You know, the sheriff was kind enough to give me a way to come back and the jail.
318
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000
I know it like back in my hand.
319
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,000
I mean, I've done it for so long.
320
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,000
So it really was.
321
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000
I appreciate everything and the family here is incredible.
322
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:11,000
I mean, I get my share of jokes taken at me, but it's a family and I love being here really.
323
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Good.
324
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,000
We are glad you're here.
325
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,000
Yeah, I think I can speak for both Chris and I.
326
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:24,000
We haven't been here for 20 years, but in the short amount of time that we have been here, we feel the family atmosphere every single day.
327
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,000
No doubt.
328
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:31,000
And that's another big thing that I've seen during Charlie is how people come together.
329
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:43,000
I sat there, I can remember sitting on the second floor in the lobby looking out the windows and that's when they said that Charlie had taken a turn.
330
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,000
Because all of us thought it was going north.
331
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:54,000
We never thought it was going to turn into Ponegorta and it turned in the seed of devastation on all the members faces.
332
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,000
That's probably the biggest thing that a lot of people don't think about is we're separated from our families.
333
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:01,000
We really are.
334
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:06,000
We and for Charlie, we lost complete communication.
335
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:15,000
So I saw grown men crying, you know, that they just they didn't know whether their spouse was alive or their house was destroyed.
336
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,000
And it took a long time before we got communications back together.
337
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,000
And here I am looking out the window.
338
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000
You're seeing dumpsters flying through the air.
339
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:33,000
It was a moment, but I tell you, even after all the stress and unknown, I would say they worked 100%.
340
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:42,000
They all came together as a team and they made us function at 100% operation, even though they didn't know how their family, whether they're safe or not at home.
341
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,000
CCO is awesome.
342
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000
They get us home as quick as possible as soon as it's safe to do that.
343
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,000
They've always done that.
344
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,000
So we got home as quick as we can.
345
00:21:50,000 --> 00:22:01,000
But didn't see the community, the different agencies come together and support each other, not only the CCO, but everyone just supported everyone.
346
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:07,000
Just an awesome picture, you know, even though it's a lot of bad stuff as far as destruction.
347
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,000
It really and I hate to say it, but it brings people together.
348
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,000
It really does.
349
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,000
It does.
350
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,000
It does.
351
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,000
Nothing like it.
352
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:15,000
Yeah, I experienced it during Ian.
353
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000
So I know exactly what you're talking about.
354
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,000
This community has been through an awful lot with the hurricanes and with the storms.
355
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:31,000
And I think what you're talking about that internal with the Sheriff's Office and the communications and the corrections and the law enforcement and the civilians and everybody that comes together.
356
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000
We also see that outside of the agency.
357
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:41,000
We see that in our community, you know, the way people step up and help each other out and get each other back on their feet so that we can keep moving forward.
358
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,000
And I think that's what makes Charlotte County paradise.
359
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,000
You know, we keep calling this.
360
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000
We say we're patrolling in paradise.
361
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,000
That's what we're doing here.
362
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:53,000
And I think that this is an excellent example of why we say that, you know, there's truth to that.
363
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,000
So I know we are short on time here.
364
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,000
So I just want to again, thank you for being a part of the show here today.
365
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000
We'd love to have you back on another time.
366
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,000
We can pick pick more of your brain because you've got a lot of stories there.
367
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,000
I can tell some stories.
368
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,000
That's for sure.
369
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,000
Perfect.
370
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,000
Well, thank you so much for being.
371
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,000
And again, folks, we will have one more guest.
372
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:15,000
We'll have Captain John Heck from the law enforcement side to speak about Hurricane Charlie's 20th anniversary with us as well.
373
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,000
So thanks a lot.
374
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,000
Stay tuned and we will be back shortly.
375
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,000
All right.
376
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,000
Welcome back to the show.
377
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000
Ladies and gentlemen, again, my name is Chris Hall.
378
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,000
I'm joined once again by Gabriella Ruiz.
379
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,000
Gabriella, give him a what's going on.
380
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000
What's going on, everybody?
381
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000
Nice.
382
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,000
See, you're getting this down.
383
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,000
I'm proud of you.
384
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:50,000
We're joined now by Captain John Heck, who has been with the sheriff's office for how many years now, Cap?
385
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,000
A little over 29 years.
386
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,000
29 years.
387
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,000
Wow.
388
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,000
One more year until you get that flag flying.
389
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,000
Until I get that flag and another badge again.
390
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,000
We can't wait to see that.
391
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,000
We love working with you and you're a lot of fun to work with.
392
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:10,000
And so your wealth of experience is going to be, it's great and we can't wait to tap your brain a little bit about this Hurricane Charlie coverage that we're talking about right now.
393
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:11,000
Absolutely.
394
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,000
I'm excited for it.
395
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,000
Perfect.
396
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,000
I'm excited for it.
397
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,000
So you were here with the sheriff's office.
398
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000
Do you remember what role you were in back in 2004?
399
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,000
Yes, I was in canine at that point.
400
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:27,000
I was a corporal in canine and it was just different because never really lived through anything like that.
401
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,000
So we were preparing for it.
402
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:36,000
Now you were telling me before and before the show, you remember standing and watching the water, right?
403
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,000
Where were you?
404
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,000
What was that like?
405
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:39,000
What were you?
406
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000
So it was at the time, it was myself and my Lieutenant, Lieutenant Wayne Nieberg, who has since retired.
407
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,000
We had video cameras in our cars at the time.
408
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,000
We were some of the very few units in the agency that had them.
409
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:59,000
So we decided we were going to park on Bayshore Road in the area where Sunseeker is now and we were going to watch the harbor empty out because their prediction was the harbor would empty out to where you could almost walk across the whole thing.
410
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,000
Oh, wow.
411
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:10,000
So as we were sitting there watching the water starting to go down on some of the old pillars there, the water stopped going down and then all of a sudden the water started creeping back up a little bit, which we said,
412
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,000
probably not a good sign at this point.
413
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:26,000
So, yeah, so literally probably a few minutes later, they came across the radio and advised that the estimates were now that the Hurricane Charlie was going to come into Charlotte Harbor.
414
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,000
And then the winds started picking up pretty fast right after that.
415
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,000
So the Lieutenant looked over at me and says, we need to get home at that point.
416
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:44,000
So I remember to drive home, which was really just surreal and crazy with the winds and the traffic lights almost sideways as I was heading home.
417
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:49,000
And you were in canine, so you had your canine partner with you?
418
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,000
I did.
419
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:51,000
So I had two at the time.
420
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,000
I had two dogs with me.
421
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,000
So I carried two.
422
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,000
We had shelter set up for officers, but there was no place for me to go with my two canines.
423
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:04,000
So most of the canine guys back then were going back to their homes and I lived up in the Murdoch area at that point over off of Atwater.
424
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:11,000
So I left from Charlotte Harbor area and drove down 41 all the way up to pretty much Murdoch Circle to get back to where my house was.
425
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,000
And that's where you could see the winds were just starting to pick up and how crazy it was at that time.
426
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:24,000
So you were out working outside, were you called in at that point or as a corporal, were you still working road patrol?
427
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,000
What was your role during the storm?
428
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,000
So at that point, we were just there to supplement anything we needed to do on the road.
429
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:42,000
So I was out and when they called us all in, so a lot of people don't realize once the winds get up to a certain wind speed, sustain, they call all law enforcement off the road.
430
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,000
It's not safe for us to be out there anymore.
431
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000
So I went home and my ex-wife was there with my children and I had a newer house.
432
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:55,000
So I parked my patrol vehicle in my driveway and I didn't have hurricane shutters on my house back then.
433
00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:04,000
I looked out the window at one point during some of the really bad winds we were getting and you could see where my vehicle was getting pushed up off two wheels pretty much to one side.
434
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,000
Oh my.
435
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,000
Yes.
436
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000
So the story as you hear is absolutely just crazy of the wind and everything like that.
437
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:20,000
We hunkered down in our house until you hear from dispatch that it's all clear, the storm has moved off and we need units to go back out on the road and start assessing the damage that we had out there.
438
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:25,000
Since Charlie, have you seen anything like it?
439
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:38,000
We were talking before with Rogers and he was saying how a lot of the procedures from Charlie are now what we do for storms today.
440
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Absolutely. I think Charlie was the eye opener that we really didn't have anything like that.
441
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,000
So when Ian came, you know, a lot of the procedures we had in place or developed after Charlie is what we use currently today.
442
00:27:48,000 --> 00:28:03,000
And even, you know, with Hurricane Debbie that was passing through Tropical Storm at the time, you know, we still were activating to a certain level to prepare everybody because unfortunately seems like any storm that comes up the coast of Florida loves to dip down into Charlotte Harbor for some reason.
443
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:09,000
So it's always scary when they say, oh, it's good. And if they use the words that is going to hit Tampa, we're a little bit more scared at that point.
444
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,000
100%. If it's hitting Tampa, it's hitting Charlotte County.
445
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,000
Yes, absolutely.
446
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:28,000
So it's warm, golf waters that we've got to be keeping mindful of. So today you're the captain, right? And now you're the person who goes over to the Emergency Operations Center and you coordinate those response efforts during and after the storms, right?
447
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:41,000
Or you're one of the people that does some of those things. So what was the coordination like now in your role now as a captain, you're coordinating it? What was it like during Charlie when someone else was coordinating you?
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So Charlie, you know, it was different because we lost a lot of infrastructure with Charlie. So we had Pinellas County came in, West Palm Beach came in and they set up, I was assigned to the promenade mall of 41.
449
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That was my area as a canine officer because everybody gets assigned to districts back then and we had four. It was just, you know, there was no place to eat anymore. Everything was shut down.
450
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All the grocery stores were closed down. So we were dependent on FPL supplied a lot of food to us at the time because their logistics is really incredible with what they have for their teams.
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So we were just, what was going on was just, you know, I would go home, I would drive in a Northport, thank goodness, and get gas from my generate my house to generate my house. It was also hard because I worked 12 hour shifts in a day that I couldn't get to Home Depot.
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I couldn't get to gas stations in a day and they all closed because it occurred few. So we've learned to make sure our people are more prepared for what they need to do.
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I think we've learned less and I think the state has learned less and since then about generators that some of our grocery stores, the gas stations have in generators, us having a plan for fuel for not only to share office operation, but if we can get fuel for our people because they still have to live and work at the same time.
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You know, it's very dependent on us. But thank goodness we have a very good support system between, you know, other law enforcement agencies and everything that honestly, Pinellas and West Palm Beach came rolling in heavy.
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I mean, they had enough people to work a whole county. We didn't really have to work. And I think that's some of the lessons too is that we kept some of our people, I feel on shift a little bit longer when we had that extra support here that where they could have went home and take care of.
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And our sheriff's been very good about that. If we can get the people home and get home and let them assess the damage to their house, take care of their family.
457
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Yeah. So hurricanes like Charlie and I'm sure like we saw a little bit of a repeat with Ian, they cause such devastation and it's a lot of picking up the pieces.
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Can you speak a little bit about the county itself and how everybody comes together and what the aftermath looks like?
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Yeah, absolutely. So when I left my house after Charlie, you know, we had to go out and assess and veterans Boulevard was a mess.
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You know, you had to drive around and find routes, drive over the curves, get past trees and you had citizens already out there, chainsaws and they were cutting the trees out of the way.
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They were pulling them out of the way. So to get everything better. Unfortunately, I had to go to one of the houses where, you know, someone reported a death and, you know, that was one of the first ones.
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I think we had an account and we went to it. And but, you know, people were trying to take care of it, clean up, get things moved away and, you know, comfort and support the family that just lost their loved one due to the storm and everything.
463
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So, you know, after Charlie, you know, a lot of my responsibility was which, you know, was disappointing me as a canine officer.
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I want to be out at night and, you know, support and make sure no criminal activity.
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But I was out there in a day and a lot of our responsibilities were go drive around and check on our citizens to make sure they're okay.
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And, you know, if they need to ice, if they needed, you know, gasoline, if they had power issues, they had anything like that.
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So we drove around, we did that and you just saw neighbors helping neighbors back then.
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You saw everybody just helping everybody. And, you know, that's a sign of Charlotte County is that I feel that we always have that here no matter how big we've gotten and we're growing pretty fast that you'll always get the neighbors helping the neighbors when they need to and our community is strong with that.
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Yeah, it definitely fits the paradise theme that we've been pushing nonstop lately is when you're here and you work here and you wear that uniform that you're wearing right now you are patrolling in paradise.
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Absolutely. Just want to say thank you captain for being on the show and being a part of this and sharing your memories from that that time that terrible time and how far we've come.
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I know that obviously you oversee the entire intelligence unit now, yes, including the Community Affairs unit now.
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Yes, which features it is I would say that 100% public information team they are incredible they're all stars.
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Yeah, good people, good people. We're going to let you get back to overseeing them and writing those commendations that you were working on so thank you for joining us today and thank you to all of our listeners.
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Stay tuned we'll be doing more and more of these podcasts in the coming days and weeks and months and we really look forward to growing and sharing more stories with you guys and teaching you a little more about the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and what it means to be patrolling in paradise.
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So thank you everybody and we'll see you again next time.
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music
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Alright, well thank you ladies and gentlemen,
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welcome to patrolling in paradise, the podcast.
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I'm Chris Hall, I'm joined as always by Gabriella Ruiz.
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Gabriella say hello.
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Hello everybody.
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Alright, we are excited to be talking here today with Gillian Treadway communications operator
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as part of our Hurricane Charlie 20th anniversary coverage.
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Gillian, good morning.
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Good morning, how are you guys doing today?
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We're doing fantastic, how are you?
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Doing alright.
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So you are, you're a unique perspective from the Hurricane Charlie situation because you came on,
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I believe your official date of hire was real close to the actual date Charlie hit, is that correct?
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It was, it was on August 10th.
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August 10th, and Hurricane Charlie hit on?
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The 13th.
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Friday the 13th.
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Oh, that makes sense.
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How long, or how far in advance did you know your hire date as compared to your, the hurricane was coming?
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Oh, I'm trying to think, like honestly that's a little bit of a blur for me.
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I think it was just a matter of, I knew I was getting hired, I knew there was something cooking out in the gulf,
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and we weren't really sure where any of that was going, and then it started to really start to have a track,
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and then they told me my hire, you know, they said come in on the 10th, and I said okay, and that was my official hire date,
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and then they said hey, come in on Friday, and I went, I don't know if that's such a good idea.
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The two things just kind of started to merge together.
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Yeah, that cone of uncertainty looked really, really uncertain for a little bit.
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Well, as long as you weren't uncertain about taking the job, that's what really matters here.
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That's actually something that I always wanted, I always wanted to work in like public service.
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My father was a firefighter, so he did 20 years up in Syracuse, New York, in the Syracuse Fire Department,
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and then he said, you know, when I said I wanted to be a firefighter originally, and he said no you don't.
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Which really means no, I don't want you to.
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And I said well how else can I serve my community?
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You've been doing it now for two decades.
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Yes.
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That's an incredible thing, just in itself because of how much stress there is back there,
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how much constant emotion you guys are struggling through.
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I shouldn't say struggling through because you're not struggling with it.
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No, honestly, I mean after, at first, absolutely, absolutely.
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The first time you get a certain type of call, that's okay, now you've been through it.
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And every time you go through it, it's a little bit less.
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Of course there are caveats to that where some things will always be hard.
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But every day is a new day, every day is something different, and you never know what you're going to get.
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But you learn how to adjust to it.
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So the stress is not so much stress, it's just, okay, so, alright, I know how to get through this.
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Even from an outsider perspective, I've had the opportunity to go into the communications room and kind of just listen.
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And it's amazing to me to see one call, they're giving directions on how to give CPR,
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and then the next call, they're trying to get information, and it's just that quick bounce back and forth to different types of calls.
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I truly, truly am so appreciative of what you do.
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Well, I'm glad to hear.
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So on an average day, you deal with a call, you hang up, you move on to the next call.
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And as you said, you kind of learn and you get better and better as you go how to manage that internally.
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What was it like during Charlie?
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Charlie was its own thing.
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Being that it was my first day and I had no idea what I was expected to do, what the expectations were of me rather.
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I went in to learn, to watch, to be, and more often than not, I was a gopher, to be honest.
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And most of the things I did was, hey, I need you to go get this for me.
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And I'm going, okay, where's that?
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But I got paper and food and water and just kind of ran around for the most part all day.
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Actually, it was when we, two decades ago, it was when there was nowhere to send your family, your family came to work.
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So we actually, there were people that brought their family in and there was a bunch of little kids and they were like, oh, well, she's new.
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And they were like, hey, you're a babysitter.
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So I got to do that for a little while until we found out that it was coming towards us.
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That's treadway daycare for those of you that are listening.
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So we moved from this building over to the jail, which was our backup center at the time because we didn't have EOC.
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EOC was here in the building.
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It was right next to communications.
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But they decided that it was probably in our best interest to be in a more fortified building.
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So they sent us over to the jail and that was an experience.
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So we actually set up communications and EOC in the hallway of the visitation hall of the jail.
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And between EOC and us, instead of walls, we had cardboard boxes.
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So there's cardboard boxes here and cardboard boxes here.
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And you could walk through them.
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But that was the only buffer we had for sound.
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And let me tell you that building that hallway is not meant for being able to hear.
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Oh, I'm sure.
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And we'll be hearing from somebody from Corrections later on in the show as well.
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But I'm glad that you could share and kind of tie those pieces together for us.
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That's a pretty neat perspective.
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Yeah, it was really a monumental, like you really solidify your first day of work.
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A lot of people can't really remember their first day.
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Oh, no, I remember.
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That had to be so interesting because you're in a learning environment already when you're starting a new job.
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And then you add that layer of Hurricane Charlie to it at any point when you were kind of had a moment to regroup your thoughts.
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Did you think what did I get myself into?
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I mean, honestly, no, I really didn't.
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I think it stems back to my dad, you know, serve your community if you can help help.
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And I was there to help.
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And I wanted to do anything that I could.
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Actually, I was there from about 5.30 in the morning until 11.30 at night.
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And they said, go home.
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We'll call you when we want you to come back.
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And I went, OK.
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And after that, it was a couple days later, I got a phone call.
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Do you still want to work here?
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And I said, I've just been waiting for the phone call.
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So, no, I mean, there was really never a point in time where I didn't want to do it.
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I just I think I just kind of knew that was where I was supposed to be.
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That you're calling.
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And here we are two decades later.
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Yeah, and still saving lives every single day.
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It's an incredible thing.
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So what in real briefly, because I know we're running out of time here, but what can you tell us about the changes or the developments that you've seen in your time here?
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So Charlie was chaos, right?
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It was just utter absolute chaos.
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And now we've been through more since then.
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We've been through other hurricanes, other storms, other crises.
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Can you talk about some of those changes?
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So I think the biggest change was when they built the EOC building over on airport.
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That's made such an incredible difference in where like logistically where everybody was placed and to be able to know that there's a plan of action that this is coming.
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We know what we're going to do and we know where everything is, what it's going to be like and how we can best serve and and even serve each other because we have our communications room now and we have somewhere that we can go that is absolutely, you know, dedicated to us, to what we need to do our job to help the community.
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And that in itself was such a huge difference because before it was like, OK, well, we're just going to plug some things in here and there and hope that we can answer all the phones.
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And now it's like, this is just another communication center for us.
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So it's it's a huge difference.
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It makes it makes it so much more streamlined to be able to anticipate everything that's coming and not be worried about, oh my gosh, what's going to happen.
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So I think it's a lot better to have the new EOC that it's not even new anymore, but in my head it is.
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Yeah, yeah, well, 20 years is a long time.
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So I mean, I know you've got more lives to save, so we're going to thank you for joining us today and for sharing this awesome perspective and very quickly.
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Any last words you want to share with anybody listening that may be thinking, hey, maybe I could be a dispatcher too.
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Oh my gosh, do it.
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Do it, do it, do it.
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I can't I cannot tell you enough like how meaningful it is for me to be able to get up every day for 20 years and say, I'm going to go make a difference today.
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And I don't think of myself as a hero.
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That's not what it's about.
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It's it's not that at all.
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It's how can I help?
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It's just how can I help?
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How can I make a difference?
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How can I, you know, so many people worry about the world.
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Oh my gosh, what's happening to the world?
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This is how you make a difference.
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This is how you help.
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It's everybody making their little contribution makes the big difference for your whole community and it starts at your community and that's where it goes worldwide.
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So if you think about doing it, if you think you might want it or even even if you're just curious, the worst that can happen is it doesn't work out.
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So do it.
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Take the chance.
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Well, we're sure we're certainly appreciative of the work that you do.
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Absolutely.
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All right.
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Well, that's going to wrap us up here for this episode or this this segment of this episode, I should say of patrolling in Paradise, the podcast.
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So again, Jillian, thank you so much for being here.
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Thank you for sharing your stories and thank you for the work that you do.
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We love when we get to talk with you guys.
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It's hard to get you guys out of that room, but it's a pleasure for us when we get to.
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So thanks so much for joining us today.
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Thank you for having me.
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I appreciate it.
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We really appreciate you.
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All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you.
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Welcome back to the show.
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Once again, my name is Chris Hall.
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I'm joined by Gabriella Ruiz.
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Gabriella, give him another hello.
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Hello, everybody.
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All right.
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We are joined today by Tom Rogers, executive director at the Charlie County Jail.
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So welcome aboard Tom.
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Thanks for being a part of the show today.
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Thank you so much.
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We're really going to enjoy it.
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Yeah, we're glad that you're here.
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And as you know, we've already discussed, we're talking about Hurricane Charlie coverage.
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So this was our the 20th anniversary of that terrible storm.
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And you were actually here with the sheriff's office back then working in the jails.
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That correct?
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That is correct.
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And also a little bit about that.
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What was your role?
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What were you doing?
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I was a captain back then.
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And of course, with the sheriff's office, any time there's any type of big incident,
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natural disaster coming, all of us have to come to work.
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So we were all at work, 100% of our staff, everyone was there.
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And my role was as a captain was to oversee the jail.
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Wow.
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So were you, because I know now when a storm hits, correction staff have to bunker down
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in the jail.
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Was it the same back then?
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Was it down for the storm in the jail?
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Yes.
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And it actually was a lot different back then than what it is today.
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It is still accurate.
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100% of our staff comes in depending on how bad the storm is going to be.
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But back then the jail was the most sound building the county had on the port of Panagordeside.
185
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So we had fire department, we had law enforcement part, you know, as far as canine communications.
186
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So our jail gets pretty full back then as far as any type of natural disaster.
187
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So this was before our emergency operations center was built?
188
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That is correct.
189
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So everybody had to go to jail?
190
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Everyone was there.
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Yes, that is correct.
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We're looking all the way back on the golden days there.
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That was a beautiful time when Charlie hit and everything got uprooted essentially.
194
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So EOC is not there.
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You said everybody comes and sets up at the jail.
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How does that work when you've got a jail full of inmates?
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Well, they're not in a secure part of the jail.
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Everyone is on the outside and the unsecure part of it.
199
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Like we had a big hallway on the second floor of the jail that was there for visitation,
200
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video visitation or in person visits, but there's glass in between the security.
201
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So most of our support staff and stuff like that would go up to that hallway.
202
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That's where communications set up.
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So they weren't in with the jail operation.
204
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So it really didn't affect the inmate population.
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That's a good thing.
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Yes, definitely.
207
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No, no.
208
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Just more risk at that point.
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And I'm assuming after the storm, trying to not only deal with the security of inmates,
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but was their power loss and things like that.
211
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Logistically, what goes into that post storm?
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Well, the post storm, looking at Charlie and looking back, I started in 1993.
213
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We had had no storms from that point until 2004.
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The Sheriff's Office is excellent about having plans, procedures and everything to cover
215
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different things that you could be exposed to.
216
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But I don't think any of us could plan for the significance of Hurricane Charlie.
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So a lot of stuff was actually developed during the storm.
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Different ideas, different innovations to make it easier for us to operate.
219
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And it was pretty much on the second sometimes.
220
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One night we lost our generator and it was dark.
221
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So when the generator goes out, we only had one back then.
222
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We lost the generator and all the emergency lights kick on, but with a jail that size
223
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and everything concrete, it was still dark.
224
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50% of our staff is working any given time.
225
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50% is resting.
226
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That particular night, I was resting.
227
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It was late at night and I'd worked all day.
228
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Generator goes off, emergency lights kick on, staff are jumping up running like crazy
229
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because they automatically knew that if we lose power, then we've got to go add extra security to the pods
230
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in all areas within the jail.
231
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And that's exactly what they did.
232
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And they had to get dressed as best they could and run out there myself.
233
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And this is a funny story.
234
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I shouldn't be telling this.
235
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Myself here.
236
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I was the only one there that night.
237
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I was the highest rank in the captain.
238
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The major was not there that night and the generator goes off.
239
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So I immediately, I don't even get dressed.
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So I'm in a pair of shower slides, shorts and a t-shirt.
241
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I run to where the generator is.
242
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My number one priority is to find out what's going on.
243
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How quick can we get this fixed?
244
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Is it an issue that's going to be long-term, short-term?
245
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,000
So I go to the generator.
246
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The county's already out there and they're looking at it and basically it came down to a part that we needed.
247
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And they're trying to figure out a way to get a part.
248
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In the meantime, we had already communications knew we had lost the generator.
249
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,000
So protocol, we have to have an outside perimeter.
250
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,000
You lose power in a jail.
251
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:36,000
You've got to provide security staff around the entire perimeter of the jail just in case.
252
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,000
Well, I didn't think anything about it.
253
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And I'm sitting there at the generator and all of a sudden a douche and a half shows up.
254
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And a bunch of military guys start jumping out in full uniform with helmets, M16s, everything.
255
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,000
And the commander jumps out and comes running toward justice.
256
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,000
Who's in charge?
257
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,000
I'm looking and saying, oh my God, I'm going to have to save me.
258
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And I'm in shower slides, shorts and a T-shirt.
259
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,000
So I said me and he's probably telling that same story today too.
260
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,000
Saying you would not believe the guy that was in charge of that jail back then and Charles.
261
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Running around in slippers and shorts.
262
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But what a night that was.
263
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But they fixed the generator.
264
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,000
Everything got back to normal.
265
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:23,000
But you know, the biggest thing back then, we had the generator only ran basic necessities.
266
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000
No air conditioning, no nothing.
267
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:33,000
So when you have a jail like that built out of concrete, you can imagine how quick, especially in August, how quick it gets hot inside that jail.
268
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Humidity starts building up.
269
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The floors got slick.
270
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,000
And I don't remember who came up with the idea, but it was ingenious.
271
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And it was a simple idea, someone put a hair net on their shoes and that protected them from slipping.
272
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:52,000
So of course, we immediately got hair nets out to everyone so they didn't slip and fall on the concrete.
273
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,000
It's just incredible.
274
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:58,000
Some of the ideas and stuff that come up, even in a crisis when everyone's probably thinking about their family and their houses,
275
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,000
but they're still thinking about what can make our operations safe and secure.
276
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:13,000
Yeah. Now, I don't know, it sounds like a lot of the procedures were developed during Charlie for some of the storms that we've gone through since.
277
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Have you seen anything like Charlie in the 20 years?
278
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,000
Charlie was devastating.
279
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And the rest of the storms when I was still employed with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, because I did retire at one point.
280
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Irma came through, which was nothing really compared to Charlie.
281
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Charlie was the worst storm in my career before I retired.
282
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And it really opened up a lot of concerns and issues that, yeah, like I said, we had good plans and procedures,
283
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,000
but there are some things you just, there's always going to be variables that you don't think of.
284
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So one of the biggest things was we didn't have water.
285
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So we had to bring in water and then we had to give showers to the inmates.
286
00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:05,000
And the idea came up to bring the fire trucks in and actually use the hoses and put them in the emergency yards or in the yards and allow the inmates to take showers in a yard.
287
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000
That was the way we gave showers through the hoses.
288
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Wow.
289
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They'd spray them right through the, right into the yard.
290
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The inmates got a shower and it just got a shower like that.
291
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000
It's just awesome, you know, to actually have something like that take place.
292
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So, but now we've got a well that we can turn on and we can provide water to all the yards as well or provide water to the pods and stuff like that.
293
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,000
So nice.
294
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Charlie did do a lot of destruction, but at the same time it helped us safeguard against future storms.
295
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If that makes sense.
296
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Yeah, absolutely.
297
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I'm sure Hurricane Ian was kind of an intimidating one too for you guys, but having those lessons learned from Charlie made a big difference.
298
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,000
I'm sure.
299
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,000
I guess I was not employed during Ian, but it's another little story.
300
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I had retired and we had traveled for the entire time.
301
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,000
My wife needed a medical procedure.
302
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,000
So we scheduled it and she needed a month.
303
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,000
So we scheduled it.
304
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:08,000
Lo and behold, I was so nice to get ready to get away from all the hurricanes in Florida.
305
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,000
I came back for Ian.
306
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,000
I was here at the house of Northport went through in lost power for a week.
307
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
And so I just can't get away from the hurricanes.
308
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,000
I just can't even if I leave for a year and a half, come back for one month.
309
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:20,000
I still get hit.
310
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:27,000
Well, we are glad that you are back at the helm over there.
311
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:32,000
And I feel like you kind of came full circle because you left the jail and you became the chief deputy here.
312
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:38,000
We called you Colonel as I recall that's right when I started with the agency and you were you were doing a lot on this side of the house.
313
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:44,000
And to see you back, you know, kind of where your roots were that that's that's a great site for us.
314
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:48,000
I think to see you go back where you belong, where you fit, you know, not that you didn't fit here.
315
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,000
Whoopsie.
316
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,000
And I really appreciate it.
317
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:57,000
You know, the sheriff was kind enough to give me a way to come back and the jail.
318
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000
I know it like back in my hand.
319
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,000
I mean, I've done it for so long.
320
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,000
So it really was.
321
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000
I appreciate everything and the family here is incredible.
322
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:11,000
I mean, I get my share of jokes taken at me, but it's a family and I love being here really.
323
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Good.
324
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,000
We are glad you're here.
325
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,000
Yeah, I think I can speak for both Chris and I.
326
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:24,000
We haven't been here for 20 years, but in the short amount of time that we have been here, we feel the family atmosphere every single day.
327
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,000
No doubt.
328
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:31,000
And that's another big thing that I've seen during Charlie is how people come together.
329
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:43,000
I sat there, I can remember sitting on the second floor in the lobby looking out the windows and that's when they said that Charlie had taken a turn.
330
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,000
Because all of us thought it was going north.
331
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:54,000
We never thought it was going to turn into Ponegorta and it turned in the seed of devastation on all the members faces.
332
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,000
That's probably the biggest thing that a lot of people don't think about is we're separated from our families.
333
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:01,000
We really are.
334
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:06,000
We and for Charlie, we lost complete communication.
335
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:15,000
So I saw grown men crying, you know, that they just they didn't know whether their spouse was alive or their house was destroyed.
336
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,000
And it took a long time before we got communications back together.
337
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,000
And here I am looking out the window.
338
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000
You're seeing dumpsters flying through the air.
339
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:33,000
It was a moment, but I tell you, even after all the stress and unknown, I would say they worked 100%.
340
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:42,000
They all came together as a team and they made us function at 100% operation, even though they didn't know how their family, whether they're safe or not at home.
341
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,000
CCO is awesome.
342
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000
They get us home as quick as possible as soon as it's safe to do that.
343
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,000
They've always done that.
344
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,000
So we got home as quick as we can.
345
00:21:50,000 --> 00:22:01,000
But didn't see the community, the different agencies come together and support each other, not only the CCO, but everyone just supported everyone.
346
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:07,000
Just an awesome picture, you know, even though it's a lot of bad stuff as far as destruction.
347
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,000
It really and I hate to say it, but it brings people together.
348
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,000
It really does.
349
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,000
It does.
350
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:13,000
It does.
351
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,000
Nothing like it.
352
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:15,000
Yeah, I experienced it during Ian.
353
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000
So I know exactly what you're talking about.
354
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,000
This community has been through an awful lot with the hurricanes and with the storms.
355
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:31,000
And I think what you're talking about that internal with the Sheriff's Office and the communications and the corrections and the law enforcement and the civilians and everybody that comes together.
356
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000
We also see that outside of the agency.
357
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:41,000
We see that in our community, you know, the way people step up and help each other out and get each other back on their feet so that we can keep moving forward.
358
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,000
And I think that's what makes Charlotte County paradise.
359
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,000
You know, we keep calling this.
360
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000
We say we're patrolling in paradise.
361
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,000
That's what we're doing here.
362
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:53,000
And I think that this is an excellent example of why we say that, you know, there's truth to that.
363
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,000
So I know we are short on time here.
364
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,000
So I just want to again, thank you for being a part of the show here today.
365
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000
We'd love to have you back on another time.
366
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,000
We can pick pick more of your brain because you've got a lot of stories there.
367
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,000
I can tell some stories.
368
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,000
That's for sure.
369
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,000
Perfect.
370
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,000
Well, thank you so much for being.
371
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,000
And again, folks, we will have one more guest.
372
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:15,000
We'll have Captain John Heck from the law enforcement side to speak about Hurricane Charlie's 20th anniversary with us as well.
373
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So thanks a lot.
374
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,000
Stay tuned and we will be back shortly.
375
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,000
All right.
376
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,000
Welcome back to the show.
377
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000
Ladies and gentlemen, again, my name is Chris Hall.
378
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,000
I'm joined once again by Gabriella Ruiz.
379
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,000
Gabriella, give him a what's going on.
380
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000
What's going on, everybody?
381
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000
Nice.
382
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,000
See, you're getting this down.
383
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,000
I'm proud of you.
384
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:50,000
We're joined now by Captain John Heck, who has been with the sheriff's office for how many years now, Cap?
385
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,000
A little over 29 years.
386
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,000
29 years.
387
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,000
Wow.
388
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,000
One more year until you get that flag flying.
389
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,000
Until I get that flag and another badge again.
390
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,000
We can't wait to see that.
391
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,000
We love working with you and you're a lot of fun to work with.
392
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:10,000
And so your wealth of experience is going to be, it's great and we can't wait to tap your brain a little bit about this Hurricane Charlie coverage that we're talking about right now.
393
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:11,000
Absolutely.
394
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,000
I'm excited for it.
395
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,000
Perfect.
396
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:14,000
I'm excited for it.
397
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,000
So you were here with the sheriff's office.
398
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000
Do you remember what role you were in back in 2004?
399
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,000
Yes, I was in canine at that point.
400
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:27,000
I was a corporal in canine and it was just different because never really lived through anything like that.
401
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,000
So we were preparing for it.
402
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:36,000
Now you were telling me before and before the show, you remember standing and watching the water, right?
403
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,000
Where were you?
404
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,000
What was that like?
405
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:39,000
What were you?
406
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000
So it was at the time, it was myself and my Lieutenant, Lieutenant Wayne Nieberg, who has since retired.
407
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,000
We had video cameras in our cars at the time.
408
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,000
We were some of the very few units in the agency that had them.
409
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:59,000
So we decided we were going to park on Bayshore Road in the area where Sunseeker is now and we were going to watch the harbor empty out because their prediction was the harbor would empty out to where you could almost walk across the whole thing.
410
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,000
Oh, wow.
411
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:10,000
So as we were sitting there watching the water starting to go down on some of the old pillars there, the water stopped going down and then all of a sudden the water started creeping back up a little bit, which we said,
412
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,000
probably not a good sign at this point.
413
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:26,000
So, yeah, so literally probably a few minutes later, they came across the radio and advised that the estimates were now that the Hurricane Charlie was going to come into Charlotte Harbor.
414
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,000
And then the winds started picking up pretty fast right after that.
415
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,000
So the Lieutenant looked over at me and says, we need to get home at that point.
416
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:44,000
So I remember to drive home, which was really just surreal and crazy with the winds and the traffic lights almost sideways as I was heading home.
417
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:49,000
And you were in canine, so you had your canine partner with you?
418
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,000
I did.
419
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:51,000
So I had two at the time.
420
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,000
I had two dogs with me.
421
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,000
So I carried two.
422
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,000
We had shelter set up for officers, but there was no place for me to go with my two canines.
423
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:04,000
So most of the canine guys back then were going back to their homes and I lived up in the Murdoch area at that point over off of Atwater.
424
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:11,000
So I left from Charlotte Harbor area and drove down 41 all the way up to pretty much Murdoch Circle to get back to where my house was.
425
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,000
And that's where you could see the winds were just starting to pick up and how crazy it was at that time.
426
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:24,000
So you were out working outside, were you called in at that point or as a corporal, were you still working road patrol?
427
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,000
What was your role during the storm?
428
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,000
So at that point, we were just there to supplement anything we needed to do on the road.
429
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:42,000
So I was out and when they called us all in, so a lot of people don't realize once the winds get up to a certain wind speed, sustain, they call all law enforcement off the road.
430
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,000
It's not safe for us to be out there anymore.
431
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000
So I went home and my ex-wife was there with my children and I had a newer house.
432
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:55,000
So I parked my patrol vehicle in my driveway and I didn't have hurricane shutters on my house back then.
433
00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:04,000
I looked out the window at one point during some of the really bad winds we were getting and you could see where my vehicle was getting pushed up off two wheels pretty much to one side.
434
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,000
Oh my.
435
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,000
Yes.
436
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000
So the story as you hear is absolutely just crazy of the wind and everything like that.
437
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:20,000
We hunkered down in our house until you hear from dispatch that it's all clear, the storm has moved off and we need units to go back out on the road and start assessing the damage that we had out there.
438
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:25,000
Since Charlie, have you seen anything like it?
439
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:38,000
We were talking before with Rogers and he was saying how a lot of the procedures from Charlie are now what we do for storms today.
440
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Absolutely. I think Charlie was the eye opener that we really didn't have anything like that.
441
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,000
So when Ian came, you know, a lot of the procedures we had in place or developed after Charlie is what we use currently today.
442
00:27:48,000 --> 00:28:03,000
And even, you know, with Hurricane Debbie that was passing through Tropical Storm at the time, you know, we still were activating to a certain level to prepare everybody because unfortunately seems like any storm that comes up the coast of Florida loves to dip down into Charlotte Harbor for some reason.
443
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:09,000
So it's always scary when they say, oh, it's good. And if they use the words that is going to hit Tampa, we're a little bit more scared at that point.
444
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,000
100%. If it's hitting Tampa, it's hitting Charlotte County.
445
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,000
Yes, absolutely.
446
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:28,000
So it's warm, golf waters that we've got to be keeping mindful of. So today you're the captain, right? And now you're the person who goes over to the Emergency Operations Center and you coordinate those response efforts during and after the storms, right?
447
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:41,000
Or you're one of the people that does some of those things. So what was the coordination like now in your role now as a captain, you're coordinating it? What was it like during Charlie when someone else was coordinating you?
448
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:53,000
So Charlie, you know, it was different because we lost a lot of infrastructure with Charlie. So we had Pinellas County came in, West Palm Beach came in and they set up, I was assigned to the promenade mall of 41.
449
00:28:53,000 --> 00:29:02,000
That was my area as a canine officer because everybody gets assigned to districts back then and we had four. It was just, you know, there was no place to eat anymore. Everything was shut down.
450
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:12,000
All the grocery stores were closed down. So we were dependent on FPL supplied a lot of food to us at the time because their logistics is really incredible with what they have for their teams.
451
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:27,000
So we were just, what was going on was just, you know, I would go home, I would drive in a Northport, thank goodness, and get gas from my generate my house to generate my house. It was also hard because I worked 12 hour shifts in a day that I couldn't get to Home Depot.
452
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:34,000
I couldn't get to gas stations in a day and they all closed because it occurred few. So we've learned to make sure our people are more prepared for what they need to do.
453
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:51,000
I think we've learned less and I think the state has learned less and since then about generators that some of our grocery stores, the gas stations have in generators, us having a plan for fuel for not only to share office operation, but if we can get fuel for our people because they still have to live and work at the same time.
454
00:29:51,000 --> 00:30:03,000
You know, it's very dependent on us. But thank goodness we have a very good support system between, you know, other law enforcement agencies and everything that honestly, Pinellas and West Palm Beach came rolling in heavy.
455
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:16,000
I mean, they had enough people to work a whole county. We didn't really have to work. And I think that's some of the lessons too is that we kept some of our people, I feel on shift a little bit longer when we had that extra support here that where they could have went home and take care of.
456
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:22,000
And our sheriff's been very good about that. If we can get the people home and get home and let them assess the damage to their house, take care of their family.
457
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:34,000
Yeah. So hurricanes like Charlie and I'm sure like we saw a little bit of a repeat with Ian, they cause such devastation and it's a lot of picking up the pieces.
458
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:41,000
Can you speak a little bit about the county itself and how everybody comes together and what the aftermath looks like?
459
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:47,000
Yeah, absolutely. So when I left my house after Charlie, you know, we had to go out and assess and veterans Boulevard was a mess.
460
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:55,000
You know, you had to drive around and find routes, drive over the curves, get past trees and you had citizens already out there, chainsaws and they were cutting the trees out of the way.
461
00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:04,000
They were pulling them out of the way. So to get everything better. Unfortunately, I had to go to one of the houses where, you know, someone reported a death and, you know, that was one of the first ones.
462
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:15,000
I think we had an account and we went to it. And but, you know, people were trying to take care of it, clean up, get things moved away and, you know, comfort and support the family that just lost their loved one due to the storm and everything.
463
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:22,000
So, you know, after Charlie, you know, a lot of my responsibility was which, you know, was disappointing me as a canine officer.
464
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,000
I want to be out at night and, you know, support and make sure no criminal activity.
465
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:30,000
But I was out there in a day and a lot of our responsibilities were go drive around and check on our citizens to make sure they're okay.
466
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:36,000
And, you know, if they need to ice, if they needed, you know, gasoline, if they had power issues, they had anything like that.
467
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,000
So we drove around, we did that and you just saw neighbors helping neighbors back then.
468
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:54,000
You saw everybody just helping everybody. And, you know, that's a sign of Charlotte County is that I feel that we always have that here no matter how big we've gotten and we're growing pretty fast that you'll always get the neighbors helping the neighbors when they need to and our community is strong with that.
469
00:31:54,000 --> 00:32:04,000
Yeah, it definitely fits the paradise theme that we've been pushing nonstop lately is when you're here and you work here and you wear that uniform that you're wearing right now you are patrolling in paradise.
470
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:14,000
Absolutely. Just want to say thank you captain for being on the show and being a part of this and sharing your memories from that that time that terrible time and how far we've come.
471
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:21,000
I know that obviously you oversee the entire intelligence unit now, yes, including the Community Affairs unit now.
472
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:28,000
Yes, which features it is I would say that 100% public information team they are incredible they're all stars.
473
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:38,000
Yeah, good people, good people. We're going to let you get back to overseeing them and writing those commendations that you were working on so thank you for joining us today and thank you to all of our listeners.
474
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:52,000
Stay tuned we'll be doing more and more of these podcasts in the coming days and weeks and months and we really look forward to growing and sharing more stories with you guys and teaching you a little more about the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and what it means to be patrolling in paradise.
475
00:32:52,000 --> 00:33:09,000
So thank you everybody and we'll see you again next time.
