Sheriff Gee Gets a Taste of the Past With Old Uniform

Gary Turner showed up at the North Falkenburg Road Jail assembly room wearing a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office uniform that hasn't been worn in decades.

As a retiree, Turner makes it his mission not only to remember the past but to make sure others do, too.

At the Quarterly Awards Recognition Ceremony for the third quarter of 2012, Turner was duly noted as being “a driving force behind the success” of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s historical project.

For the Sept. 12 awards ceremony, Turner showed up in a dated uniform, sporting a tan shirt, brown pants and, as he noted in an interview, a belt that weighs a lot less than that worn by deputies today.

Included on the belts of today's deputies are pepper spray, handcuffs, a flashlight, baton, handgun, radio, cell phone and taser — most of which wasn't around back in the 60's.

"We didn't have pepper spray or mace back then," said Turner, who spent 34 years with the office, including 25 years on patrol. His old-fashioned belt had spots for a cross-draw holster, cartridge pouches and handcuffs case.

Noted at the Sept. 12 awards ceremony was Turner's "countless hours" to the collection and cataloging of historically significant sheriff's office uniforms and equipment, publications and photographs.

His enthusiasm for the project, noted as "without limit," was recognized as well through his "private purchase of equipment and materials for the re-creation of the 1960's deputy's uniform" that he wore to the awards ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Gilbert "Gil" Rodriguez joined Turner at the foot of the stage, where they held a small meeting with Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee. Rodriguez gave to Gee a dated pair of inmate pants, with black- and-white stripes.

Rodriguez said he had worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.