Jay Romine couldn’t be much prouder.
“It’s quite the honor for an Oneco boy, who started out as an 18-year-old Palmetto police officer. I would have never thought it possible.
“I’m very proud of this award and of the Florida Police Chiefs Association,” Romine told The Islander Aug. 7.
He served the Holmes Beach Police Department 1982-84 and 1986-2013, including 20 years as chief.
The recognition Aug. 3 came at the culmination of the FPCA annual conference in Bonita Springs.
Numerous awards presented at the event included honors for law enforcement officers and agencies for outstanding service and acts of bravery — a total of 14 awards, including the Lee McGehee Police Officer of the Year Awards, the Rocky Pomerance Excellence in Policing Awards, a Pillars of Success Award, an Operation Cooperation Award, three Wall of Honor Awards, the FPCA President’s Choice Award, the FPCA Director’s Choice Award and a Fallen Hero Award.
A news announcement stated:
“These awards demonstrate not only the breadth of the FPCA’s membership, but also the extreme talent and dedication of those members — to their communities, to their fellow law enforcement officers and to their state,” said Coconut Creek Chief of Police Albert “Butch” Arenal, the newly installed 2016-2017 president of the FPCA.
Romine was “immortalized” for the distinguished Wall of Honor as “a legislative juggernaut in his years as the chair of FPCA’s Legislative Committee that fortified the FPCA as a major player in Tallahassee politics that continues to the present day.”
Romine also had been awarded the FPCA President’s Award in 2000, 2003 and 2011 and served as president of FPCA 2004-05. He served as an executive board member 2005-13.
The FPCA Wall of Honor awards recognize outstanding contributions to the law enforcement profession and years of service to the FPCA in numerous leadership positions. Recipients are recommended by current or past FPCA members and receive special recognition on display at the FPCA headquarters and training facility in Tallahassee.
Romine, presently director of the Manatee Tech Florida Law Enforcement Academy, was honored alongside retired Chief Lionel Cote of the Satellite Beach Police Department and retired Chief Keith Chandler of the Melbourne Police Department.
— Bonner Joy