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Top ranks of Tarpon police shuffled

Saying it's time for a change, Capt. Ronnie Holt steps down after a 24-year career. Two officers step up.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published March 30, 2006

	[Times photo: Carrie Pratt]
	Ronnie Holt gets a hug from Pat Haynes at his retirement party on Wednesday afternoon. Holt was a Tarpon Springs police captain for more than a decade.

TARPON SPRINGS - After more than a decade as second-in-command of the Tarpon Springs Police Department, reporting for duty every day, Ronnie H. Holt turned in his captain's stripes Wednesday.

He predicted that within 24 hours he would be on the road headed to South Carolina to spend a month hunting wild turkeys.

It is Holt's way of re-entering civilian life.

Holt's retirement, at age 45, comes at the end of a 24-year career on the force.

"I've done it all and now it's time for a change," he said.

Taking the reins from Holt is Jeffrey P. Young, who served as the administrative sergeant and spokesperson for the past five years. Officer Barbara Templeton was elevated to the open sergeant slot.

Both promotions and Holt's retirement were marked in a mid-afternoon ceremony at police headquarters Wednesday.

As family, friends and colleagues celebrated with cake and punch, Holt reflected on his tenure with an agency that drew a state grand jury investigation in 1987 and more recently attention from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which has reviewed the handling of several cases.

"Regardless of what people say, this agency is not what it was in 1987," he said. "I was here in 1987 and it is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was."

Most memorable personally, Holt said, were the two homicide cases he spearheaded and the investigation that lead to the seizure of 1,400 pounds of marijuana.

"I've been shot at, but never shot," he said. "I've arrested people for everything from bicycle theft to homicide. ... but I'm not a police officer anymore; I am an administrator."

Now, Holt said, he will focus more on managing his rental properties in Pasco County and running the two title companies he and his wife own.

Young, 39, who has been on the force since 1993, said Holt's mentoring prepared him well to take help lead the force, which has 48 officers.

"The biggest thing I learned from him is how to be direct with people about what you expect and what you'll accept," said Young.

Asked what he thinks about reporters, Young said his years as spokesman convinced him that the press can be a powerful partner for solving crimes but poses a balancing act when the media want more information than the police can disclose.

"It's a tough, responsible job that is not often easy," he said.

[Last modified March 30, 2006, 06:34:15]