Chief Stephen Hogue's Retirement Letter To The Citizens of Tampa

It was an absolute honor for me to serve as Tampa’s Police Chief for the last six-years. Retiring is bittersweet. I’m leaving behind a lot of friends, even more memories and a large part of my life. I have one person to thank for giving me this opportunity and that is Mayor Pam Iorio. She helped me realize a personal dream to serve our great city as the Chief of Police. With her unwavering support, I believe we have truly improved the quality of life in Tampa.

I’m also very fortunate to have such a supportive family. Any career in law enforcement is hard on family life. I appreciate my family’s willingness to sacrifice for my career as a police officer.

I need to recognize my executive staff. They helped draft and execute the crime reduction plan that has made Tampa a safer city. I also need to publicly express my appreciation to the supervisors, police officers, and civilian personnel who worked so hard to achieve our crime reduction results over these past years. Your efforts have made my tenure as Police Chief a success and I will always owe each of you a debt of gratitude. Of course, we could never have accomplished so much without the help of our citizens who have joined T.P.D., as true partners, to make all neighborhoods safer. You have really made the Tampa Police Department a successful organization.

I will always carry with me the feeling of responsibility for the loss of four police officers during my time as Chief. Those were without doubt the most difficult times of my tenure. During each one of these tragedies, Mayor Pam Iorio was with us. She supported us every step of the way. She was also there many other times that few know about, like when officers were seriously injured on the job. Whether it happened at two in the afternoon or two in the morning, she was always there consoling families and supporting police officers during our tough times. Not only has she emotionally supported us, but she has also supported us during very lean budget years. We have not had significant cuts of officers because of her belief in public safety. I am not alone in my appreciation of all Mayor Iorio has done for the Police Department during my six-years.

You’ve probably heard the saying, behind every man there’s a good woman. Well, in my case there are two women and the other one is Jane Castor. As the Police Chief, I get a lot of credit for the successes of this organization even though other people may be doing the lion share of the work. Well, that is what Jane Castor has meant to me for the last six-years. She was one of the architects of the deployment of our crime fighting strategy. She had the difficult job of launching our crime reduction plan in the toughest neighborhoods in District II when she was the Major over that area. She did a phenomenal job. And when she was promoted to Assistant Chief, she once again took over the most difficult assignment, which was managing crime reduction in all three districts. She helped make sure the crime rate kept coming down. We have all experienced the results of that over the years. She has been the go-to-person for this administration and really made my job much easier. I don’t think we would be as successful if Jane hadn’t been apart of our team. Jane Castor has all the skills, talents and experience it takes to be a great Police Chief and that is why I predict that Jane Castor, at the end of her tenure, is going to be recognized as the best Police Chief this city has ever had!

Be Safe,