BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Titles may change, but the person remains the same.
That’s the view Jeff Johnson takes when thinking about the fact that he’s no longer police chief. The dissolution of the Starke Police Department prevented him from a proper retirement and going out on his terms, but “Punkin’,” as most know him, is still “Punkin’.” He loves Starke and Bradford County and will continue to assist citizens in any way he can.
“I’ve had 200 people come by the house and tell me they’re supporting me and all that kind of stuff,” Johnson said, referring to the aftermath of the city commission’s 4-1 vote to allow the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office to take over sole law-enforcement duties within the city limits. “I just tell them, ‘I don’t have to be the chief of police to help. If you need me, and I can help you, you call me.’”
Johnson served as SPD chief since 2009 and was with SPD a total of 34 years overall, with two different stints surrounding time when he worked for the Waldo Police Department. He describes it as a blessing that he enjoyed such longevity in a career that can be dangerous and that he avoided any health matters that could affect any of us.
Then, there’s that feeling of having been a part of something that served the community for the good.
“I’m proud of the accomplishments — what we’ve done, how we’ve protected the people and how we took care of the people,” Johnson said.
“We” is a key word when Johnson talks about himself and SPD. It’s an indicator of how he approached his role as chief.
“I hate to say this because it sounds like I’m bragging, but I believe I was an accomplished chief because I could see somebody’s strength and put them in it and give them the confidence and the ability to do it,” Johnson said, adding, “I got loyalty from an employee because I let them do their job. I didn’t babysit them. I worked with their strength, and we fixed what their weakness was.”
The path to a law-enforcement career
A part-time job at the Starke Recreation Department turned into a full-time job for Johnson when he turned 18. He eventually left and worked briefly as a firefighter and then onto performing a variety of jobs as a city of Starke employee. He returned to the recreation department.
Johnson was with his brother Chuck when Gordon Smith approached Chuck and said he had the dates for when they were going to start the police academy at what was then Lake City Community College (now Florida Gateway College). That piqued the interest of Johnson, who asked more about the academy. He decided he wanted to go, too.
Three days after Johnson graduated on Dec. 23, 1987, he was hired at SPD by Chief Jimmy Bowen.
Johnson remembered having to work a murder scene on Old Lawtey Road early in his career.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. Didn’t have a clue,” he said. “Ricky Bennett and Scotty Rhoden said, ‘It’s time for you to learn what you’re fixing to get into. This is the time.’
“They sent me over there just to stay out front and make sure nobody went inside — kind of secure the scene, but at the same time, have a part in it.”
The victim was a well-respected member of the community, Johnson said. That, in turn, he said, led to people talking to police and sharing anything they knew or had heard concerning the crime.
In two or three hours, the two men who committed the murder were arrested, Johnson said. The speed in which that happened amazed him, but it also taught him that the success of law enforcement really comes from the trust it has from its community and being able to work hand in hand with those community members.
“At that point, I learned that you can be the best police officer in the world, but without the community support, and without the community trusting you, you’re worthless.”
A beneficial move to Waldo Police Dept.
Johnson said he won’t “throw anybody under the bus,” but “there was some stuff” going on at SPD, which made him leave after two years when Joe Kiser asked him to come work for him at the Waldo Police Department.
“I say it was God’s timing for me to leave,” Johnson said.
It was the best thing he could’ve done for his development as a police officer, Johnson said, explaining that Waldo officers were dispatched through the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and sent primarily to areas in the east end of the county.
“They’d send us to alarms and calls, and we’d just wait for the deputy to get there,” Johnson said. “We just calmed things down. When the deputy got there, he’d take over.
“You got to dabble in that large-agency operation without being at that large agency.”
Johnson remembers three calls he responded to — a T-bone and rollover crash south of Waldo in which four were killed and three injured, a crash in front of the old Bobby’s Hideaway in which two Florida National Guardsmen were killed and a plane crash into the Santa Fe River north of Alachua County Road 225 in which the pilot experienced spatial disorientation (he thought the plane was right side up when it was in fact upside down).
Those were “bad” calls, Johnson said, describing the T-bone and rollover crash as “horrific.” However, such scenes have never affected him to where he was unable to do the job that needed to be done.
“Prior to me being in law enforcement, I had seen three or four bad accidents and helped in those accidents,” Johnson said, adding that he believes God was preparing him then for a career as a police officer.
Return to Starke
Johnson said he and Kiser had been talking about returning to their home communities. They were able to do that, with Kiser going to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office and Johnson returning to SPD.
“(Chief) Jimmy Epps gave me the opportunity to come back,” Johnson said. “He had been after me for about a year.”
It was certainly the right move, leading to a long career and being able to spend all of his time in his home community.
Johnson moved up through the ranks and attained the rank of major, but he never saw himself as ever being in the role of chief. Yet that’s exactly where he found himself when Gordon Smith successfully ran for sheriff.
“He was more confident (in me) than I was,” Johnson said, adding, “Gordon convinced me to be the chief. I wanted him to stay chief and me being the major until I retired. That’s what I wanted. God had a different plan.”
His appointment as chief followed a 5-0 vote by city commissioners. After that, Johnson ran unopposed in one election and had opponents in three others.
Reflections
In looking back on his career in law enforcement, Johnson said he was blessed to have never fired his weapon.
“I can remember twice I pulled my pistol and probably had half the trigger pulled,” he said. “Fortunately, it worked out to where I didn’t have to pull the trigger.”
That was in his role as real-life officer. He did pull the trigger, however, as an extra in the 1999 movie “Trash,” which was also released under the names “Nobody’s Children” and “No Fear.” One of the scenes in the movie, which was filmed in downtown Starke, had two characters robbing a jewelry store. They ran out of the building, which was the old Tony and Al’s location, and were chased by by Johnson and two other SPD officers: Kevan Russell and Kaye Sargent.
“I shot him in the leg,” Johnson said of the character played by Jeremy Sisto, who’s been in such TV series as “Six Feet Under,” “Law and Order” and (currently) “FBI.”
Johnson was also an extra in two other movies that were filmed locally: “G.I. Jane” and “Tigerland.”
Being an extra in just one movie was something he surely never imagined. Something else he never envisioned was a real-life event that had SPD arrest people who were involved in selling baby formula on the black market. The black-market ring operated out of Texas, with individuals traveling to various stores such as Target and Walmart to shoplift baby formula and ship it for sale in Mexico.
“My guys and I caught one of the groups at our Walmart,” Johnson said. “Six of them in two vehicles.”
The aftermath of the scene led to involvement of the FBI and Texas law-enforcement personnel.
“That was probably one of the craziest calls (SPD had),” Johnson said.
Johnson, of course, saw changes over the course of his career. One of the biggest was the reliance upon computers and computer-aided design systems.
In Johnson’s opinion, technology had its good and bad sides. One of the good things was that it put officers out into the community more because their vehicles essentially became offices.
“If they’re wanting to type up a police report, instead of them having to come into the station, they just did their report while sitting in somebody’s yard or sitting at the gas station.
“Having visibility is real good.”
Officers may have been out in the community more, but personal interaction decreased.
“Everybody relies on a phone or a computer instead of talking to someone (in person),” Johnson said. “If someone called (SPD) on the phone, I made sure my officers went and talked to them. Now, some people don’t want you to come. They don’t want the police car sitting out front because then everybody asks questions, but if they wanted contact, you made contact.
“That’s how you communicate. You don’t communicate with a phone and a laptop.”
Johnson is proud of the fact that he was able to help give SPD officers better salaries. He said officers were making $11.50 an hour when Gordon Smith was the chief. When Smith was elected as sheriff and Johnson became chief, Johnson didn’t have his salary bumped up to what Smith was making.
“I took just a 10-percent raise so I could add money to the starting salary and bump everybody else up. I didn’t want to hire somebody at $11.50 an hour.
Johnson said starting salaries increased to $12.15 an hour. Over time, that rose to $19 an hour. By the end, officers were making between $38,000 and $39,000 per year.
Of course, SPD still served as a “conveyor belt” in Johnson’s words, but he said he understood someone “going just down the road to make $15,000 more per year.”
“I couldn’t fuss at them for that,” he said.
When officers did leave to work for another agency, they took a lot of skills with them. They worked an incident from the initial call to its final result, something Johnson said doesn’t happen at larger agencies.
“I heard all the time that my police officers, when they left to either go to the sheriff’s office here or to another sheriff’s office of PD, came in with so much more experience,” Johnson said, adding, “My guys did it all from start to finish.”
The future
Johnson admitted he has no idea what retirement holds for him. He knows that as of right now, he’s got nothing planned by playing with his grandchildren this summer and working on some projects building cabinets and chests.
He’ll continue to take hunting trips to Wyoming, where he has a place, but doubts he’ll travel there more often.
“I don’t think I’ll do more hunting trips, but I think I’ll stay longer,” he said. “Instead of going for two or three days, I might stay four or five days. Instead of going to Wyoming for a week, I might go for two weeks.”
One thing he knows for sure is that he’s not leaving Starke.
“I’ve been here all my life,” Johnson said. “I’ve been at 618 Lafayette St. Now, I’m at 602. I just moved a little bit.”
And if anyone in the community needs assistance, he’s still willing to help in any way he can. It’ll just be in ways different than from when he was chief of police.
His desire to be there for people surely stems from his childhood. He’ll tell you he was brought up right, crediting his mother and grandparents.
People in Starke get that credit as well.
“The city of Starke has been good to me and my family. It takes a town to raise kids,” Johnson said before then taking a playful dig at his two brothers. “I can’t say for Chub or Chuck, but they did good with me.”
Johnson said he can’t even think of every person who had a positive impact on him throughout his life, but they all helped make him the man he is.
“I was blessed enough to have Godly people in my life,” Johnson said, adding, “You are who you hang around, and you become who you listen to.”
His retirement may not have come about the way he wanted, but Johnson is ready to move forward and see what life has in store.
“Did I want to retire in the way it happened? Absolutely not,” Johnson said, “but God’s got a plan.”
