For a man who had his pilot’s license before he had his driver license, working in the Airport Unit is a natural fit. Originally from Israel, Ron Levy was in high school in the US when he decided to learn to fly. “A lot of my buddies owned cars. I decided I’d fly an airplane.” He didn’t fly commercially, but aviation was always a passion. “Working at the airport is a no-brainer, because I understand it. I know FAA rules, and I understand it from the law enforcement side.”

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) serves the unincorporated areas of the county as well as 13 contract cities. Corporal Levy said that you can look at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (known by its airport code PIE) as another contract city. “That gives you an idea what our job expectations are as deputies. We're in charge of maintaining security at the airport, not only in the terminal but on the entire property.” 

There is definitely a customer service aspect to the job. “We’re usually the first thing that people see when they come into the airport. We're the face of the agency here. We spend a lot of the day interacting with the flying public, and the people who work at the airport – people from the airline or TSA.” Airport Unit deputies are stopped for directions, information about parking and meeting flights, and how to check in. They monitor the schedules throughout the day so they always have up to date flight information at their fingertips.

It’s not just customer service though – Airport Unit deputies get called for unruly passengers, or travelers who are upset they missed their flight, or whose bags are too heavy. They might also get called if someone has too much to drink on the plane or before boarding. “If the employees can’t deescalate, we come by and help calm things down,” Corporal Levy said. “Mostly it’s peaceful. People just want to go about their business.” 

There have been some scary moments. “We had a passenger who had rechargeable batteries, and as he came through his bag started smoking. When he opened up the bags – whoosh!” Luckily it wasn't a bomb, but they had to take quick action. Their response always has to have the worst possibility in mind. Recently, a passenger located a knife in the luggage compartment of a plane. Though they eventually determined it was accidentally left by someone doing maintenance, they treated the incident as a security breach until they knew otherwise. That means evacuating everyone from the plane and re-screening them. 

Many of the crimes they deal with are similar to those seen in patrol. “We had an arrest first thing this morning for a loiterer in the parking lot. Last night we had an arrest for disorderly conduct.” Not long ago, a man experiencing a mental health crisis tried to board a plane with a six-month-old baby in his arms. It was a tense situation, and Airport Unit deputies had to talk him into safely handing over the child before placing him in protective custody.

There is danger on the runways, too. Several times a month they get aircraft alerts, where the tower notifies them that a plane is coming in with a mechanical issue. When an aircraft radios that it has some kind of problem it gets cleared for priority landing and ground crews, including Airport Unit deputies, are ready to respond. They've seen private planes that run out of fuel land on fumes, while others forget to put their landing gear down. Fortunately, crashes are rare. Corporal Levy said that if there was an actual crash, PCSO secures the scene, takes photos, helps with documentation, collects information, and writes a report that is available to NTSB for their investigation.

Working at the airport is anything but sedentary. “We’re on our feet almost all day,” said Corporal Levy. The only time we’re off our feet is when we get into our cars and do perimeter checks.” As they drive the perimeter, they're on the lookout for intruders, damaged fencing, or anything that might interfere with the safety of aviation. 

The airport property extends far beyond the terminal. It includes a flight school, as well as hangars that are owned by private individuals. “We also provide security for the U.S. Coast Guard, and for the Army Reserve,” Corporal Levy said. The U.S. Army Reserve operates an Army Aviation Support Facility. Blackhawk helicopters used to fly out of that facility, though now it is primarily used to fly VIPs. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater is the biggest Coast Guard air station in the country, with about 700 personnel. 

Even though those are both military facilities, the PCSO Airport Unit will respond to any criminal activity there. Trespassing is a problem, even though most trespassers aren't there with malicious intent. Proximity to the jail and to Safe Harbor means that the airport grounds are sometimes seen as an attractive isolated area for homeless people or those with mental health issues. 

In one incident, a person in a stolen vehicle crashed through an airport fence and was driving around the commercial airliners. When they saw the Airport Unit swiftly responding, they crashed through a second gate into the Coast Guard facility, where they ditched their car in a hangar and had the brilliant inspiration to escape in a C-130. The only obstacle to that scheme was a complete lack of knowledge about aircraft, so they couldn't figure out how to do more than open the door, and were quickly apprehended by members of the Airport Unit and the PCSO Flight Unit, which also has its hangar on the airport property.

There's a lot of history at PIE. It was built during WWII. Then known as the Pinellas Army Airfield, it was home to the 304^th Fighter Squadron, a combat training unit whose P-40 Warhawks and P-51 Mustangs also flew anti-submarine missions in the Gulf of Mexico. It is fitting that an airport with such military history is now the point of departure for Honor Flight West Central Florida. Honor Flights bring veterans to Washington DC free of charge on a special one-day flight to our nation's capital so they can visit the memorials that honor them. 

After the war it was returned to the county and called Pinellas International Airport – though it was given the designation PIE because the Peoria International Airport had already lay claim to PIA. Our memorable moniker gave us much better marketing opportunities, not to mention the ability to name the PIE parking lots Strawberry and Key Lime. 

The airport has changed a lot from the days when you could walk directly from the parking lot, under an open-air roof and out onto the tarmac to board. “In 1952 there were no walls – you could walk straight out to the aircraft,” said Corporal Levy. “As long as you had your ticket, no one would stop you.” Now the airport has 12 gates and is one of the major hubs for Allegiant Air.  “They’ve built their own maintenance facility here. They’ve put down roots.” About 2.5-million people pass through PIE every year, and that number is expected to steadily grow. There are plans for expansion to accommodate the increased traffic. The whole expansion may take about 10 years and will include jet bridges, and more areas for planes to be parked, so additional airlines might start flying out of PIE. There's also talk of a parking garage... though no word yet on what kind of pie it will be named after.

Was it named after a rock that looked like a Native American, or a series of steppingstones used by indigenous people before there was a bridge? Or is the legend of the ailing Chief Chic-A-Si being cured by spring waters from the barrier island the true source of the city’s name? Whatever the origin, Indian Rocks Beach is now one of the contract cities whose law enforcement needs are served by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). 

Deputy Bill Englert has only been working in Indian Rocks Beach for a few months, but he is a big fan of the city. “I think it’s a great city – to work in, to live in, and to visit.”

Indian Rocks Beach was a favorite picnicking place for settlers since the late 1800s. Visitors crossed the Intracoastal Waterway by a ferry until the first bridge was constructed in 1916. When the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad built a spur to Indian Rocks Beach, it became a playground for wealthy Tampa residents. The city was already well populated by the time of the post-war boom, so it didn’t suffer the fate of many beach communities and get a lot of big motels. Although today condos have replaced some of the quaint cottages, you can still find small, charming buildings and in many places the city retains a vintage feeling. 

Deputy Englert says that Indian Rocks Beach is exceptionally safe, with the most common calls being for city ordinance violations such as dogs or alcohol on the beach. “People who aren’t from the city just don’t know that you can’t have dogs on the beach here,” he said. Pedestrian safety is a top concern, and a large part of his traffic enforcement involves making sure people stop for pedestrians in the marked crosswalks. Parking enforcement is another part of each shift. “We’re proactive about that, checking each beach access to make sure there aren’t any illegally parked vehicles. Some parking spots are only for IRB residents, they have a special decal they display on the back window.” 

Educating the public is a common theme with PCSO deputies, and enforcement in Indian Rocks Beach is no different. Not everyone who violates an ordinance gets a citation. “If it’s a person who hasn’t been warned before, I’ll most likely give them a warning,” Deputy Englert said. “But if it’s someone who is a repeat offender – they were already warned and they’re still doing it – it will be time to think about a citation for them.” 

Most violations are committed through ignorance, not malice. “Visitors won’t always know the ordinances since they vary from city to city. That’s why it’s important to educate them first and document it. Then you can show that they were aware of the ordinance and still chose to violate it.”

The deputies who patrol Indian Rocks Beach have a great relationship with the commissioners, city manager, and other city employees. When he stopped by City Hall on a recent shift, city manager Gregg Mims came out to greet him. “We love the deputies who work here,” he said. 

“They like it when we come in and talk to them about their concerns,” Deputy Englert said. “We always want to know if there are any issues, anything we need to address. They all have my phone number and will give me a call if anything is going on. For example, when the last storm was coming in, I got a call about parked vehicles that were in the way when they were bringing in sand for sandbags.” He was able to contact the owners so they could move them. “And a city employee told me about a suspicious person who was sleeping in the city. I checked him out and he had a warrant. They let me know if they see anything, or want me to check something out.

With a total area of only 1.4 square miles and a population a little north of 3,600, the city is small enough that Deputy Englert can cruise along every neighborhood block several times each shift. That’s not only a great way to keep an eye on the city, its ideal for community engagement. On every little street, Deputy Englert gets smiles and waves from residents. 

A lot has changed in Indian Rocks Beach over the years. Crabby Bill’s has grown from a little fish market with takeout to a 10-restaurant empire. The 1,000-foot Big Indian Rocks Fishing Pier, which was once the longest fishing pier in Florida and the nexus of recreation on the beach, was destroyed in 1985 by Hurricane Elena. The iconic Pueblo Village, the old country store that sold clothing, tourist tchotchkes, BBQ, penny candy, and sarsaparilla, closed in the 1990s to make room for a condo. And the shell trail that once stretched along the Gulf side of most of the city is now only intermittent. 

But some things never change. Indian Rocks Beach is still a safe place to live and a charming place to visit. Despite working 12 hour shifts there, Deputy Englert still likes to visit the city on his days off, having brunch at the Café de Paris Bakery before going to the nearby beach. “It’s a quiet beach city compared to some of the other beaches here in Pinellas County – sort of a hidden gem.”