Democratic Candidate Gary Pruitt for Sheriff

[Unregistered]

Well he may be an unknown name but so was Andrew Warren when he defeated Mark Ober. He s got my vote for one simple reason, this office is run like a political machine instead of a law enforcement agency. If he gets the backing of the democratic party of hillsborougg county he might give CC a run for his money since over 60 percent of the county is registered democrat.

[Unregistered]

But what are his political and law enforcement beliefs? It would be a terrible thing to vote him into office and find out that he's worse than the incumbent. As bad as this office can be, it can get much, much worse. Take the Warren vs. Ober situation you just cited.

He has a website, you can Google it, but it is understandably light on details this early in the game.

[Unregistered]

I like this...

"My name is Gary Allen Pruitt, and I would like to introduce myself and tell you why I want to be the Sheriff of Hillsborough County. I am currently the Director of Security at the Westfield Citrus Park mall working for Professional Security Consultants. In this position, I interact with Hillsborough County Sheriff Deputies on a very routine basis and see the restraints that are put on them as they attempt to enforce the laws that protect you.

I spent 25 years as a law enforcement officer with the Tampa Police Department, retiring in September of 2015. During my time with this agency, I spent all of my time in the patrol districts where I served as a patrol officer and patrol supervisor as well as a plainclothes officer and supervisor. I was also a detective assigned to latent investigations.

While in the patrol district, I was also assigned as the Environmental Crimes Detective. Although this was an assignment designed to help the East Tampa neighborhood combat the blight that covered their community, it was actually a community-oriented policing position where I was able to interact with and touch the community. What I learned in this position is that law enforcement as a whole either isn’t comfortable with routinely engaging with the citizens it serves or has forgotten that we actually work for them.

In this position, I was often censored in what I was allowed to tell the citizens what we, as law enforcement, were doing to combat certain concerns they had in their community. It became really evident that we were not providing the service to the community we not only should be doing, but we had sworn to do. This all just seemed to be politics.

While working in this position, I realized I not only wanted to be of more service to the community, but I also wanted to be in a position where I could ensure the citizens received the service they deserved; that is when I decided I wanted to be the Sheriff of Hillsborough County.

Since I decided to run, I have been told that the Sheriff’s Department is closed to outsiders--the outgoing sheriff often picks his successor, which is a pattern that I have noticed. I know that big money and power shouldn’t be allowed to hold influence over these elected positions. The sheriff should work for all people in Hillsborough County--not just backers with deep pockets and power.

I know that this will not be an easy race by any means, but I will continue to fight until Election Day. Everyone has one vote, no matter how rich or powerful--let’s make that vote count.

Please consider supporting me in my race for Sheriff of Hillsborough County. I want to give you the representation you deserve."

[Unregistered]

Not gonna happen guys

[Unregistered]

Actually sounds pretty damn nice. He came from TPD, which means he knows what being a cop is all about, and he claimed to have been in the patrol district most of his career. The enviromental detective thing bugs me a little. Golden boy position, but thats ok as long as he had put in a good amout on time with patrol and a real detective position. The security thing may sound like a bad rep. However, at least he still deals with moron people and understands their BS. He does not seem like a politician that spends his time with politicians. That also seems like he wrote it and not someone else for him. Sounds good to me.

They are tightening up in us bad now. Especially in D5. It was fun while it lasted, but it now just as bad as the other 4 districts. Most of us are scared to even say anything. Many of my partners are ready to curse someone out. Tensions are building. We NEED a change. We need a leader. A law inforcement leader. These people need to go.

[Unregistered]

“They are tightening up in us bad” ??

[Unregistered]

“They are tightening up in us bad” ??

What is the intention of this post? Are you here to post a productive comment or take note of spelling errors?

[Unregistered]

The biggest problem that I have is that he is a democrat... I could not vote for a democrat, becasue todays democrats are the socialists/communists of years past... Just look at the recent leaders in the democratic party; Pelosi, Harry Reid, Boxer, Schumer, Obama, Clinton, Waters, Barney Frank, etc... If JFK was running in this decade, the far left would call him a "right wing nutjob." Seriously, how could any one in Law Enforcement be a democrat? Yeah, the republicans have a bunch of Rinos who are really democrats, most of whom only ran as democrats becasue they wouldn't have got the nomination as the head democrat. So they run as republicans becasue that's the only chance they have to win... But I consider myself a republican, even though many of our leaders are not.. I have the same core beliefs that I had 40 years ago.

[Unregistered]

Jane Castor was a democrat and she seemed to take care of her troops so that doesnt fly. We need a union and he would be willing for us to at least have a vote being he came from a unionized agency. Just look at the morons their promoting. Time for change folks.

[Unregistered]

The biggest problem that I have is that he is a democrat... I could not vote for a democrat, becasue todays democrats are the socialists/communists of years past... Just look at the recent leaders in the democratic party; Pelosi, Harry Reid, Boxer, Schumer, Obama, Clinton, Waters, Barney Frank, etc... If JFK was running in this decade, the far left would call him a "right wing nutjob." Seriously, how could any one in Law Enforcement be a democrat? Yeah, the republicans have a bunch of Rinos who are really democrats, most of whom only ran as democrats becasue they wouldn't have got the nomination as the head democrat. So they run as republicans becasue that's the only chance they have to win... But I consider myself a republican, even though many of our leaders are not.. I have the same core beliefs that I had 40 years ago.

Here's the thing(s). He can't run as a Republican because C.C. (Carbon Copy) is.

Our Sheriff has been at the helm for 4 months now, and could have implemented anything he wanted to for much longer then that. What has he done so far? He promised more money for the shift differential. That's about it. More money for the younger deputies, because the more experienced ones have long established commitments (like kids, spouses, 2nd jobs, what have you...) and are working dayshift.

So, What else has the Sheriff done? I'll tell you. He's allowed the same old favoritism and good ole boy system to continue. Look at who he promoted in October! And, look who's been given the transfers and specialty positions... only Homeland Security and D3 deputies... where, Ironically the Sheriff recently came from. Big surprise on those specialty positions right?

He has proven already, that nothing will change with him as Sheriff. As a Republican, I don't care what a candidate's professed political party is. And, something has to change here.