By LOIS KINDLE
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Robert Acosta is the new community resource deputy for Ruskin and Apollo Beach. He replaces Deputy Yvette Hibbard, who recently returned to patrol services.
Acosta, 57, joined the Sheriff’s Office as a Reserve 2 volunteer deputy in 1994, working on assignment 80 hours a month alongside fulltime HCSO deputies while raising a family and working a fulltime job. He attended and graduated from the Hillsborough Community College Police Academy, before beginning his full-time law enforcement career in 2004.
Since then, Acosta has served in various positions with the HCSO, starting as a street patrol deputy in 2004 for District 4. His resume includes a year on patrol in District 5; three years for the HCSO Civil Unit (handling evictions and court injunctions); two years as a community resource deputy in District 5; a year in Community Outreach, where he helped plan and execute major HCSO-sponsored events and fundraisers; and, since 2024, working patrol again back in District 4. He assumed his current role as community resource deputy in July 25.
“I love CRD work,” Acosta said about the position. “I get to engage with members of the community during [predominantly] good times rather than during traumatic events. I’m excited to be back in District 4, where I started my career, and this is where I plan to end it.”
His duties include working with homeowners’ associations, neighborhood watches and other community organizations; visiting schools and attending school-related events; being an HCSO ambassador; traffic enforcement; assisting patrol with call volume; helping businesses with trespass authorizations/enforcement; making contact with the area’s homeless; helping with disaster assistance at the district; and dealing with other assorted issues in the community.
Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City’s northernmost of five boroughs, Acosta joined the Army immediately after high school in 1986 and served as a specialist in Desert Storm. While he intended to stay and serve for 20 years, “God had other plans,” he said.
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Robert Acosta is the new community resource deputy for the communities of Ruskin and Apollo Beach.
After Acosta’s father and brother died, he and his mother moved to Brandon in 1990. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve and Army Inactive Ready Reserve for several more years.
In his spare time, he’s a genuine homebody who enjoys spending time with his wife of 15 years, Stephanie Quintana, an HCSO polygraph detective in Tampa, their 13-year-old son, two adult sons from a previous marriage and four grandchildren.
“Rob’s a great guy,” said HCSO Master Deputy Jeff Merry, who’s known him for many years. “He’s a real asset for the community, and he’ll do a great job for its residents.”
Deputy Acosta can be reached by emailing racosta@teamhcso.com or calling 813-247-0455 or 813-777-1172.