If Ed Duncan liked the retired life, he’d be more worried about which snowy slopes to ski right now than what’s going on in Plant City.
But, living the slow life wasn’t Duncan’s style. Itching to get back into the police work that he loved for so long, he applied for the role of Plant City Police Department’s new Chief of Police and was sworn in July 7, 2014.
“I’m very proud,” Duncan said at the ceremony. “And, I’m honored to have this badge. It means a great deal to me.”
Flash forward six months, and Duncan’s demeanor hasn’t changed. He’s still a man who truly loves his line of work, and he has no idea when he’ll give it up for good.
VETERAN LAWMAN
Duncan said that he knew he wanted to become a policeman early on. In fact, he said that police work was the only thing he ever really wanted to do.
So, he went out and did it as soon as he had an opportunity. The Hillsborough High alum entered a law enforcement enrichment program in his junior year, and upon graduation, worked with the Tampa Police Department until he was 21.
From there, he went on to join the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in 1978 — where he stayed for 34 years, retiring in 2012.
“I had a great career there,” Duncan said. “I had the opportunity to work under four different sheriffs. All of them were great leaders. They provided a great deal of stability to the agency and to the community.”
While on the job, Duncan picked up on traits from each of those four sheriffs — aspects of each management style that he made note of and eventually put to use.
Duncan never really considered moving to another department, enjoying the work and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office so much that moving to a new town or state was never on his radar.
Officially, Duncan served as a SWAT operator for 10 years and also served as the tactical commander for some time. With the SWAT team, Duncan started with nine other officers and worked on barricaded hostage situations, high-risk arrests, search warrants and more. Over time, he saw the SWAT team grow and eventually be held in a higher regard.
“It used to be, people had a stigma for SWAT,” Duncan said. “They were nothing much — just a bunch of gun-toting, wild-running individuals that were just looking for a thrill. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. The ultimate goal of a SWAT team is peaceful resolution.”
He oversaw emergency preparedness and homeland security initiatives as he progressed into upper management and enjoyed the fact that he constantly faced new challenges over time. But, Duncan said that the most important thing for maintaining his career was remembering his roots.
“I think one of the things that’s most important for any leader is to not forget where they came from,” he said. “To realize that the job starts at the patrol level — that first responder is what defines your agency. We all started there. You can’t forget that.”
DIDN’T LIKE GOODBYES
In 2012, after almost 37 years on the job, Duncan decided that it was time to retire. He ended his career that September and began traveling with his wife in October.
“I like to snow ski, and I like shooting clays,” Duncan said. “So, I was enjoying my down time. It was funny — right after I retired, I had a guilt complex. I thought I should be doing something. The phone wasn’t ringing as often. You can imagine, the majority of my career, I was always on call and my phone rang constantly.”
It was, at first, unnerving for Duncan. Eventually, he realized he was finally free when he went for a morning run and was able to leave his phone at home. He worked on home projects, spent time with his family and traveled around the country on ski trips.
But on one ski trip in Utah, he found out about the opening at the Plant City Police Department. Former City Manager Greg Horwedel called Duncan and informed him that the city was looking for a new chief.
“I thought about it, over the week that I was in Utah, and thought, ‘Maybe I have a few more years left in me,’” Duncan said. “I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’”
As a Plant City resident, it wasn’t like Duncan was going well out of his way just to get back on the job. Now after accepting the job offer, his phone is constantly ringing again — and he’s perfectly happy about that.
“It’s not quite as busy as it was with the sheriff’s office used to be, but I still have that commitment,” Duncan said. “My wife is very, very supportive. We enjoy being a part of this community.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
So far, things are looking good for Duncan in his new role. According to him, he couldn’t have asked for a better staff.
“Everything is going extremely well, I think,” Duncan said. “We’ve got an outstanding police department here. I’m real proud of the guys that are here.”
Which leads Duncan to his most biggest goal: officer retention.
“There’s a large demand for law enforcement right now,” he said. “With the drop programs in the state of Florida, a lot of agencies are losing large numbers of personnel.”
In August when officers can get out of their contracts, Duncan said, a large number of officers from several Tampa Bay-area police departments are going to leave their jobs. This will create a significant demand in the applicant pool and could pull even more officers out of their current departments and into a bigger one somewhere else.
“It’s imperative that we maintain our level of staffing, as high as we can, during this transitional period,” Duncan said.
The key, he said, is showing potential new hires exactly why the Plant City Police Department is a great place to work and serve.
“It’s important to showcase what Plant City offers,” Duncan said. “Plant City has a phenomenal work environment. The community is very supportive of our police officers, which is invaluable. We also have great benefits for our officers coming here.”
These benefits include a 20-year retirement plan, compared to the 30-year plans of other agencies, and pay comparable to what larger departments are offering.
But, the fact that so many positions will be available does not mean that the veteran chief will be lax in his evaluation process, Duncan said.
“I would rather run short-staffed than to bring on sub-standard candidates, because you inherit all of the baggage that comes with them,” he said. “It’s important that we maintain the confidence level that our community has with our officers so that we can move forward and prepare for our future.”
August will certainly be a tumultuous time, but with his level of experience and visible enthusiasm, the department likely rests assured that Duncan can help it pull through.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
WEAR THE BADGE
Anyone who’s interested in joining the Plant City Police Department, even if that involves waiting until this summer, will be able to find everything they need online. A downloadable application can be found at the City of Plant City website, PlantCityGov.com/index.aspx?NID=117. For more information, call (813) 757-9200.
