Serving others is this HCSO deputy’s calling

By LOIS KINDLE

After more than two decades serving in various Army airborne artillery units, Billy Nixon retired.

“It was the perfect job for a hillbilly from West Virginia,” he said. “I got to jump from planes and blow things up.”

LOIS KINDLE
Billy Nixon, 52, is the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office community resource deputy for Gibsonton, Riverview and FishHawk, essentially the northern half of District 4. An Army retiree, he has been an HCSO deputy for 10 years and was assigned his new job in January.

Nixon found another job he enjoys just as much when he joined the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office 10 years ago. And it doesn’t take quite the toll on his body that his Army gig did.

Nixon is the community resource deputy (CRD) for Gibsonton, Riverview and FishHawk, essentially the top half of District 4. He was assigned the role in January by his commander, Maj. Bob Ura.

“I absolutely love it,” said Nixon. “I’m so thankful the major asked me to do this. It’s a blessing to have a job like this.” Nixon said the primary focus for community resource deputies is to lighten the load for the major by handling the comments and concerns of residents.

The CRD said he enjoys communicating with residents, talking with community leaders and helping homeless folks find resources “to catch a break” and find ways to make a living. His is a very busy area of mixed demographics. It includes homelessness, drug problems and lower-income residents, as well as higher-income growing communities and new businesses.

But having lots of responsibility doesn’t faze him.

“I love the neighborliness of my job,” he said. “Sheriff Chronister’s Walk It Like You Talk It program is me right there. I like walking up to people and introducing myself.”

Nixon, 52, is thoroughly familiar with his area. He has been in District 4 since he became a deputy, and he spent at least five years patrolling the Gibsonton area both days and nights as a street deputy.

Nixon was born and raised in Huntington, W. Va. On his father’s side, he has blood relatives who are Hatfields (of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud). He earned an associate degree in general studies at the University of Alaska, while he was stationed at Ft. Richardson in Anchorage.

Nixon has been married for 17 years to his wife, Joanna, a paralegal who was born and raised in Tampa. They reside on two acres in Riverview, once owned by his wife’s grandparents, and have two adult children.

“Billy’s a good deputy. He’s respected by his peers,” said Jeff Merry, his District 4 counterpart to the south. “He loves helping people, and that’s the reason we wanted him as a community resource deputy.”

Nixon works out of the District 4 office, 508 33rd St. SE, Ruskin. He can be reached by calling 813-247-0455.