Tagliarini, 62, is among the first of more than 100 sheriff's employees expected to retire soon under the state's Deferred Retirement Option Program. By the end of next year, almost the entire command staff in Tagliarini's northeastern Hillsborough patrol district -- a major, three lieutenants, five sergeants and Tagliarini -- will be gone.

"We'll lose hundreds of years of experience," said Maj. Rocky Rodriguez.

"We all grew up together," said Maj. Al Perotti, whose father helped Tagliarini's father get a job with the Sheriff's Office several decades ago. Perotti is retiring soon, too.

Like the other veterans at the agency, Tagliarini remembers when much of the county was nothing but farms and general stores. He remembers when two deputies patrolled the entire northeast corridor, which stretches from the Pinellas county line to Citrus Park to U.S. 301.

He chuckles when he tells stories about his early days of undercover work, when the agency's entire, 12-person vice staff had a $700 budget to buy drugs.

$700 for one month.

Once, Tagliarini was buying LSD from a drug dealer and barbecue restaurant owner in Plant City. He didn't have the $10 to buy the entire tab of acid so the dealer cut the tab in half -- with the barbecue knife -- and sold it to him for $5.

Tagliarini made his case.

Playing the part

He didn't set out to be an undercover officer. Quite the opposite, actually.

After a tour of duty in the Navy, he worked as an accountant for a local construction agency.

His father, the sheriff's deputy, encouraged him to apply to the agency as an accountant. Tagliarini did, but was turned down for lack of experience. Someone suggested that he become a deputy.

That was in 1969.

After a four-year stint in patrol, he begged to become an undercover drug officer. At first, the agency didn't want him -- there was a concern that at 34, he was too old for undercover work.

When they finally promoted him, he would become one of the agency's most prolific undercover agents. He would found the Florida Narcotic Officers Association and rise through the ranks at the agency, but his years on the street -- the early and mid '70s -- were the most exciting of his career.

He wore bell-bottom corduroys and grew his beard out.

"Hippie stuff," he said, showing off a photo where he looks more like Che Guevara than a lawman.

A motorcycle lover, he bought a 1966 Triumph and drove it around the county, often on undercover assignments. At night, he blended in with the counterculture. In the off-hours, he was at home with his wife and three small children.

"You've got to be an actor, to play the part," said Lt. J.T. Kelley, who has worked with Tagliarini for decades. "You have to convince people that "I'm one of the bad guys.' Not everyone can do that."

But Tagliarini could, and he loved it. To him, it was acting.

"The excitement and the danger and the role," he said.

He worked pool halls and biker bars. Once, he walked into a hippie bar and got the shock of his life.

"The people were nekkid," he said.

Another time, he arrested a guy who sold him drugs. A week later, the same man sold Tagliarini more drugs. He arrested the guy again.

"There's a moxie to being an undercover officer," said Perotti. "They go into some pretty dangerous circumstances."

A who's who

The first time Tagliarini was shot at was on the morning of Oct. 15, 1976.

He was part of a team of 12 officers who served a search warrant at a home on 93rd Avenue. Eight members of the Outlaws, a motorcycle gang, lived in the rundown bungalow.

As the officers broke into the house, a biker inside fired a volley of bullets. The officers fired back.

Three officers were shot. Tagliarini wasn't one of them.

The three officers recovered. One, William Strickland, had to leave the force because of his injuries. A list of the other men involved in the raid reads like a who's who of Tampa Bay law enforcement.

Richard Ortiz, who was wounded in the attack, later became a major for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Robert DeLuna, also wounded, became a major with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. He retired in March after 30 years on the force.

The major who led the raid was a rising star within the department. His name was Cal Henderson. He is now the sheriff.

Henderson started with the agency just weeks before Tagliarini. The two are old friends.

"I hate to see him go," Henderson said.

On Friday, Henderson took Tagliarini out to lunch. More than 400 people are expected to attend a going-away party this week, a number that slightly surprises Tagliarini.

It shouldn't.

Tagliarini has been kind to many people over the years. He makes Judy Bentivegna, his secretary, homemade candy at Christmas. As an administrator, he placed stickers on the sheriff's desk that listed a deputy's name and an anonymous message: "deserves to be promoted."

Although old friends have approached him with a couple of post-retirement job offers, Tagliarini isn't sure what he will do.

He will remain linked to law enforcement. One of his sons is a Hillsborough deputy. His daughter is a Hillsborough community service officer. His other son is an officer with the Mulberry Police.

He knows he will tend to his 4 acres on the east side of the county.

And he is working on a book about the 1976 shooting, an event that affected him profoundly.

There also are grandchildren to play with and the Harley-Davidson he bought last year.

It has only 2,500 miles on it.

"I'm looking to change that," he said.

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