The COPS Rural Unit’s four deputies patrol half of Manatee County
By CARL MARIO NUDI
The COPS Rural Unit of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has to patrol about 450 square miles.
That unit, made up of one sergeant and three deputies, not only have a large area to keep tabs on, but they have the smallest density of population in the county with only about 15 people per square mile.
“We do a lot of driving,” said Sgt. Rob Hendrickson, the supervisor of the detail that originally was named the Agricultural Crimes Unit. “It’s not uncommon to put 300 miles on each truck a day.”
Although Hendrickson and his deputies, Justin Yero, Garrett Johnson and Adam Resnick, have such a large territory, they handle their patrol like a small-town policeman.
During the school year, Hendrickson begins his day around 7 a.m. by unlocking the gate at Myakka Elementary School and waiting in his big, white GMC 2500 patrol pickup truck for the assigned resource officer to report for duty.
While waiting, he catches up on his office work of reports and emails, but does not get much done, as teachers, staff and students walk up to his pickup truck window to say hello and catch up with the sergeant.
It is like a satellite sheriff’s office.
“Funny how people know I’m here and will come to see me about different issues,” Hendrickson said. “And some don’t even have students in school.
“They’re just discussing their lives and what’s been happening,” he said.
Many of the children wave and say hello when they see Hendrickson sitting in the pickup.
One of the students runs up to the truck almost every school day to get a hug from Hendrickson. The little girl then has to push the horn button on the steering wheel to get the siren sound before her mother takes her to her classroom.
“They’re good people out here,” Hendrickson said. “I like my work because it’s rewarding to help my own community.”
The 49-year-old New Jersey transplant lives in Myakka Head, on about seven acres. He has raised some cattle and horses.
He moved to Manatee County around 1992-93 from a rural area of New Jersey.
Hendrickson worked on a ranch when he first came to Florida.
He has a lot of family in Florida, some in law enforcement.
When he started with the sheriff’s office he was a patrol deputy, then he transfered out to the country with the then-named Agricultural Crimes Unit, then went back into town to work narcotics, before again heading back to the country to take the supervisor position with the COPS Rural Unit about five years ago when he was promoted to sergeant.
Hendrickson’s wife Dawn works in the financial division of the sheriff’s office, and his daughter Ashley works in the sheriff’s office records department.
He has a son, Cody, who works full time and was attending college through online classes.
In January 2019 Hendrickson will be with the sheriff’s office 20 years.
His first tour with the agricultural unit was for about seven or eight years, and this recent period as sergeant for about five years.
“When I started with the sheriff’s office it was called the ag patrol or range deputy, now it’s COPS Rural.
COPS is an acronym for Community Oriented Policing Squad.
“The job has evolved a lot,” Hendrickson said. “We not only investigate large-animal abuse, we help investigate other types of crimes.”
The COPS Rural Unit needs to know about ranching and farming industry situations.
“Thefts of farm animals, crops, machinery, equipment, trespassing on cultivated lands and animal abuse/neglect are just a few examples of the crimes investigated,” according to the description on the sheriff’s office website.
“This unit (also) conducts proactive patrols of extremely remote areas for illegal drug activity and trespassing,” the website continued. “They also enforce the hunting laws of the state, and patrol the county parks during season.”
“When I started with the sheriff’s office I was in town (in the neighborhoods),” Hendrickson said. “It was a good experience because you learn a lot and you learn fast.
“You knew you were going to get different kinds of calls and a lot more when in town,” he said. “The experience in town teaches you the police work, but the big thing is knowing the people and knowing who to talk to.”
“They have such a good relationship with the agriculture community,” said Capt. Robert Mealy, patrol commander for District 3, which includes the COPS Rural area. “They know all the nooks and crannies.
“They’re so connected to the community, and their personalities just meld with that community,” Mealy said.
Many of Hendrickson’s days are filled with patrolling the streets of Mayakka City, the major highways and the backcountry roads.
“I’m looking for anything that’s out of place, something unusual,” he said during one of his rounds that span from the Hillsborough County line to the north, to the Sarasota County line on the south and the Hardee and DeSoto counties’ boundaries to the east.
During that trip Hendrickson noticed a gate to a pasture off Taylor Road was open.
He called the rancher and was told someone was working there.
Then he received a radio call from dispatch about a bull in the middle of Carlton Road near the Hillsborough County line in Duette.
Upon arrival, all the cattle were behind the fence, and the owner was on the scene handling the situation.
These seem mundane, but there are times when the sergeant has to react quickly to serious accidents, such as the little boy who was in an ATV crash recently and had his hand smashed.
The mother noticed Hendrickson in his truck as she was driving her son to the fire station in Myakka City.
“Good thing she flagged me down because the EMS was on a emergency run and no one would have been there,” he said.
Hendrickson was able to stop the bleeding with a bandage called QuikClot, although the boy lost his hand.
“I was told if Rob wasn’t there the little boy would have bled to death,” Capt. Mealy said “He just sprang into action.”
The captain said the COPS Rural unit is a special group of people.
“The members of the agricultural unit partake in specialized training (for a rural area), such as how to tranquilize large animals,” Mealy said. “Their strength will be in an agricultural crimes capacity.”
He said the deputies know how to investigate those types of crimes and they know the right questions to ask.
But the bigger advantage in having the COPS Rural Unit may be their relationship in the community.
“That is a unique population in east county,” Mealy said. “They are very in tune to what’s going on in that community.
“These relationships are the key element in performing their jobs,” he said. “If you live in the community like they do, you have skin in the game.”
It is the small-town attitude that makes the job enjoyable to Hendrickson.
“I like the people, and I like the environment,” he said.
Hendrickson’s many training certifications help him perform his job better.
Along with his animal investigation training, he is certified as a firearms instructor and vehicle driver trainer.
Hendrickson also serves on the Myakka City Fire Control District Commission.
To relax, Hendrickson and his wife Dawn like to ride their Harley Davidson Classic motorcycles on road trips.
They loved a recent trip to North Carolina where they took a road referred to as the “Tail of the Dragon.”
“It was fun because it’s so winding,” Hendrickson said.