By Tamas Mondovics
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office celebrated the official opening of its long awaited new District V Patrol Office, earlier this month.
Commanded by Major Kyle Robinson, the new facility is located at 10128 Windhorst Rd. in Tampa off Falkenburg Rd. in HCSO’s Pine Brook Complex across from the department’s District II office.
District V now serves communities, within Dr. King Blvd. to the north, Alafia River to the south, from Lithia Pinecrest Rd. to the east and Tampa city limits to the west, including Progress Village, Bloomingdale and northern Riverview along with its substations.
Robinson recalled that in 2015 Sheriff David Gee and HCSO Chief Deputy Jose Docobo put together a working group to devise a plan how to manage and to stay ahead of growth throughout Hillsborough County.
“We have analyzed data, crime trend, calls for service and came to the conclusion that we needed a fifth district, to better serve our citizens,” Robinson said.
It was also determined that the addition of a new district, which will specifically affect and reshape District IV, the department’s largest district, is to begin serving residents this spring.
Within its more than 400 square miles, District IV, served nearly 300,000 residents, in the communities of Ruskin, Riverview, Apollo Beach, Progress Village, Lithia, FishHawk Bloomingdale.
The changing boundaries affecting one substation is the Bloomingdale Community Substation located 3622 Erindale Dr. in Valrico, formerly a District IV station under Major Robert Bullera, which recently welcomed HCSO Deputy James Brodie as the community’s new full time resource deputy.
Since May 8, the Bloomingdale substation and its staff including Brodie, Detective James Howell and Resource Officer Sandra Capitano now serve the community under Robinson in District V. District IV will continue to cover communities south of the river such as Lithia, FishHawk, Gibsonton, Apollo Beach, Ruskin, and southern Riverview including Balm, Wimauma and Sun City Center.
Valrico area residents continue to be serviced by HCSO’s District II office.
“District V is about people who put their lives on the line to serve, as well as partnering with people in our communities who deserve, to feel safe and secure in their neighborhoods,” Robinson added.
