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FWC employees have some of the most interesting jobs ever! Here are some of our employees doing what they do best. Send your photos of FWC employees in the office and in the field to Kelly.Broderick@MyFWC.com.
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 South Region A and B officers partnered with Outdoor Afro to put on a Saltwater Fishing 101 event at Phil Foster Park in West Palm Beach.
Above: South Alpha: Lt. Edwin Harp. Below Officer AJ Harris (helping young boy get a fish off of his line),
  Above: South Bravo: Officer Ron Washington. Below: NE: Officer Racquel Daniels.
 KEYSTONE SPECIES - Gopher Tortoise (permit required)
Southwest Senior Officer Emmanuel N. Tsongranis received information from FWC Gopher Tortoise Biologist Kyle Brown about a gopher tortoise agent in possession of 34 gopher tortoises without a permit. Officer Tsongranis, Officer Sean Swindell, Lt. Kevin Balfour and Investigation Lt. Jedidiah Parisoe arrived at the gopher tortoise agent’s place of business in Land O’ Lakes where they observed the 34 gopher tortoises. Officer Tsongranis charged the agent with 34 counts of possession of gopher tortoises without a permit.
 2022 First Responder Diver Challenge
The FWC Southwest Dive team participated in the inaugural First Responder Diver Challenge hosted by Charlotte County. Lt. Spoede, Lt. Burks, Investigator Cooke, Officer Specialist(s) Alvis, Klobuchar, Grenz, Gonzales, and PIO Rothchild represented the FWC with a strong showing and excellent teamwork. Officer Specialist Rick Klobuchar took second place in the overall TOP FROG competition, followed closely by Investigator Cooke. The TOP FROG challenge was a grueling swim across a lake while wearing full scuba gear, followed by an in-water barrel drag (to simulate a surface victim tow) and concluded with a 160-yard sprint carrying a scuba tank. The rest of the competition consisted of team competitions designed to test teamwork, speed and working in challenging conditions.
 Signs of Digging
After nearly a year of effort, Southwest Officer Specialist Scinta, with support from K-9 Officer Wolff, was able to arrest a party of individuals trespassing on state lands with the intent of excavating heritage artifacts.
In surveillance efforts to identify patterns of gaining access to a WMA, Officer Scinta could identify numerous sites that had been unearthed and locate debitage debris and discards . The individuals were charged with the unlawful excavation of an archaeological site, criminal mischief of $1,000 or greater and violation of wildlife management regulations.
The looting of archeological sites has long been a statewide problem, reaching epidemic proportions in the early 2000s due to the high prices that artifacts were bringing in the antiquities market, particularly overseas.
Archaeologists say that looting deprives society of priceless nonrenewable resources that can provide a window into understanding past cultures and lifestyles, and strips the artifacts of their archaeological context. The artifact tells only half the story; its placement and the surrounding objects tell the rest of the story. When artifacts are taken out of context, a fuller understanding of the past is lost.
 End of Summer
It was all hands on deck for Labor Day weekend. Southwest Region officers, including team members from investigations, K-9 and OPV, were out during the final boating holiday of the year. Labor Day, considered the unofficial end of summer, was filled with great weather and an opportunity for family and friends to enjoy our beautiful resources. The waterways were busy, but our officers ensured everyone's safety.
SWR officers were responsible for 28 total BUI arrests over the weekend and likely saved numerous lives. The most critical number this past holiday weekend was zero serious bodily injury or fatal boating accidents. Out of the 28 BUIs made, there was a real possibility that one or more of those would have turned into a severe accident had we not intervened. This number reflects the officers' dedication, work ethic, teamwork and peer leadership! Over the holiday weekend, everyone contributed to the group effort. If it wasn't making a BUI, it was supporting with logistics or handling calls for service.
It was not all stern and somber. Sacrificing time from family and friends, the SW teams managed to keep smiles on their faces and even enjoy the time with their FWC family. Last and certainly not least, Dispatch, the radio guardians, took the incredibly high volume of activity in stride. They were a critical part of the officer's safety and success.
A Team within a Team - Surface Supply Hard Hat Dive Team
FWC has divisions and teams and teams within teams. One such sub-team (pun intended) is the Surface Supply Hard Hat Team. FWC is able to utilize scuba diving in many facets of research and mission specific goals. the Division of Law Enforcement Dive team has a secondary specialty team when it comes to diving. Southwest Lt. Spoede is the team leader for the southern (SW, SRA, SRB) SSHH team.
 What is the purpose and benefit of SSHH? First, virtually an endless supply of air. Not having to change out the diver’s tank every 30-40 minutes increases productivity exponentially and decreases the potential for mistakes by allowing the same diver to continue their work uninterrupted and/or without having the diver waste time re-orienting to the search area.
 Second is the inclusion of hardwired communications. Having good uninterrupted communications between the diver and the surface support team is critical to the diver’s safety. It increases the team’s productivity by being able to give precise direction to the diver from the surface team.
 Third, having a direct physical connection to the diver. This is one of the most important and is provided by having an air hose and hardwired com’s system (umbilical). If you lose com’s, or even if the diver’s air supply gets cut off, you know where the diver is and can commence a rescue without having to search. The diver can simply switch to their emergency gas supply and communicate via line pulls until the standby diver arrives.
Last, and perhaps most critical based on the circumstances, using the SSHH paired with a full encapsulating drysuit would allow divers to conduct search and recovery in highly contaminated environments. All members of the FWC dive teams are drysuit certified. This additional highly specialized training allows the FWC SSHH team to respond in high-risk water environments while mitigating personal exposure and risk.
 Having a Crabby Day
Southwest officers in Hernando recently pulled just shy of 500 out-of-season and abandoned stone crab traps. The Herculean physical efforts of hand pulling all these traps was led by Officer Specialist Scinta and assisted by Officer Moschiano, Lt. Grover, Officer Specialist Little, Senior Officer Pulaski and Officer Brown. Officer Specialist Scinta's investigative efforts resulted in identifying the owner of the traps and filing enhanced charges (excess of 100 traps) for littering and out-of-season traps. Also appreciation to Tampa officers that assisted with the transference of ALL of these traps into evidence.
Every Dog has Its Day
Recently Southwest Officers Garcia and K-9 Jenny, along with Officers Wilkin and K-9 Havoc, conducted a presentation at Southeastern Guide dogs.
 Southeastern Guide Dogs transforms lives by creating and nurturing extraordinary partnerships between people and dogs. They breed, raise and train elite guide, service and skilled companion dogs and provide life-changing services at no cost to the recipients. SGD focuses on developing and training dogs for various purposes. Their selection process helps the dogs show their personalities and what role/job is right for them. More than half of FWC's K-9s have come from SDG.
During the presentation, Officer Wilkins brought Havoc into the room. Havoc scented the person who had raised him for more than a year, even though it had been more than a year since he had last seen her. This recognition showed the lasting impression and scent capabilities these incredible dogs have.
 During the showing, K-9 Havoc demonstrated his ability to scent out deer meet in a room full of distractions. K-9 Jenny showcased her ability to hard-hit on empty ammo shells.
 After the presentation and showing, Officers Garcia, Wilkins, and PIO Rothchild were given a behind-the-scenes tour of this incredible campus. The property includes a K-9 fitness center, puppy raising, a doggy training center, on-site logging for visiting training and more. The state-of-the-art genetics and breeding facility is where Officer Wilkins got to see his future grandpuppies.
 The FWC K-9 Program comprises specially trained K-9s that complement the FWC mission. FWC K-9s are highly skilled and receive advanced training in evidence recovery, article searches, human tracking, wildlife detection and resource detection. The K-9s receive no aggression training and are very "user-friendly." In addition to their law enforcement functions, they have proved to be a tremendous community-oriented policing relations tool. The FWC was the first conservation agency in the country to utilize K-9s as part of its mission.
Droning On - sUAS (small unmanned aircraft systems)
The Southwest region Division of Law Enforcement has begun developing its sUAS program. Capt. Bontrager, one of the founding members, has been working with various teams to highlight the capabilities of this new resource for helping achieve specialized cases and missions.
Southwest Region K-9 Officers Livingston and Wilkins, along with Officer Fioramonti, participated in a simulated search-and-rescue scenario with a new FWC drone flown by Capt. Bontrager. Officers Wilkins and Livingston set out their K-9s looking for a lost subject in the woods (Officer Fioramonti) while the drone guided them to a possible search site. All involved learned how we can use new tools at our disposal to help in the search and rescue of lost individuals while keeping officers safer and not tiring out the K-9s as quickly.
 Southwest Region Officers Ron Perry, K-9 Officer Valerie Garcia and K-9 Jenny responded to a call regarding a cut lock on a gate for the Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA in Charlotte County. The officers met with Webb staff and began to investigate. K-9 Jenny was deployed in the area where the vehicle tracks were last seen and she discovered a vessel and trailer hidden in the woods. The motor had been removed and the vessel had been reported stolen. The officers contacted the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, assisted in processing the scene and the case was turned over. Great work by Officer Perry and our K-9 dynamic duo, Garcia and Jenny!!
 Southwest Region Officer Jeremy Birchfield was called out by dispatch at 4 am when the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office received a call about an individual in possession of live sea turtle hatchlings. After arriving on-scene and interviewing a subject, it turned out he was sleeping near a soda machine that was the brightest light source in the area. The hatchlings were drawn to this light source and the subject was not involved. Thankfully, Officer Birchfield was able to quickly collect the wayward hatchlings and disable the light source to prevent this from happening again. A total of 15 hatchlings were rescued and taken to the local fire station, where Mote Marine had placed a cooler for displaced turtles to be examined and released back into the wild. What a guy, that Birchfield!
 Southwest Region Officer Christopher Hurst, along with Officer Jadon Stapleton and Lt. David Barrett, had an eye out for fishing vessels returning from offshore during the Labor Day weekend. While most fishermen were aware of the closure to red grouper due to the Gulf of Mexico annual catch limit being reached, they encountered two men who had harvested three red grouper approximately 50 miles offshore. The fish had to be seized as contraband but it was clear to the officers the two men had made a mistake. Warnings were issued and the two men were educated on how to receive notices from FWC on mid-season closures and other fish news in the future. Enforcement through education. Well done, officers!
 Southwest Region SOG members, along with Capt. Guy Carpenter, assisted with a dignitary protection detail for Gov. Ron DeSantis in Fort Myers Beach. The governor was in town speaking to a crowd about the importance of environmental protections.
 Southwest Region Officers Bradley Johnson, Ron Perry and Valerie Garcia received a call regarding an alligator trapped in an abandoned cistern on Patricio Island in Pine Island Sound, Lee County. Officers managed to capture the approximately 7-foot alligator and safely relocate it without incident.
 Southwest Region Officer Kelsey Grenz and PIO Adam Brown assisted with the 2022 Venice Sharks Tooth Special Olympics Fishing Tournament hosted by the Venice Police Department. Twenty-six special-needs fishermen and women took to the water with 18 local captains to catch fish, view marine life and even operate a vessel. For many, this was their first time fishing or even on a boat! Lunch and awards were provided afterward. This was a rewarding way for the FWC to join with local partners including the Venice Police Department, Sarasota Police Department, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Sea Tow Venice and local charter captains and give back to the community.
 Investigator Andrew Kobs, Officer Sean Karr, Officer Mark Cassidy, Senior Officer Adam Brown and Officer Specialist Keaton Hazelwood patrolled the Peace River in Desoto County over the busy Labor Day holiday weekend. The Peace River stretches 106 miles through some of the most pristine Old Florida habitat. It is these officers' job to patrol, protect and preserve these back waters and make sure the citizens of Florida are safe through appropriate boaters safety enforcement.
 Interdivisional Collaboration
Officer Specialist Washington spoke to a group of kayak trip leaders at a training conducted by Jake FitzRoy, FYCCN West Central Regional Coordinator. He discussed new navigational laws related to human-powered vessel and paddle sports rental safety.
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