‘Men in Blue’ Archives
Men in Blue: Tony Spina
By Danielle Dodder Sergeant Tony Spina starts his ‘workday’ at 6 pm and answered our questions in between managing the night shift patrol of the island under a full moon. The former Officer of the Year dedicated himself at the outset of his career to fighting for the underdog. Just don’t call him if “window surfing” your thing. [...]
You can take the cop out of New York City…
By Danielle Dodder “No one has tried to kill me since 1997. I’m happy.” So speaks Ed D’Alessandro, former NYPD emergency services officer and current patrol officer for the Marco police department. The effusive D’Alessandro adds “Most people don’t spend their career picking locks and blowing things up.” Most people [...]
Men in Blue
By Danielle Dodder Unlike politicians or reality tv ‘stars,’ police officers are not exactly publicity hounds. Police work, by its very nature, is solitary. Two people, armed, set out on patrol in a car to find at minimum the ridiculous side of human nature, at maximum, its darkest. These people have the same selfless, protective [...]
Policeman of the Year
The Policeman of the Year was awarded at a Police Foundation luncheon held at the Marco Island Hilton. First order of business was to honor the memory of member Tom Owens by presenting an award to his wife, Donna, in recognition of all they had done for the organization. Police Foundation President Bill Morris mentioned Tom’s book was befitting [...]
Men in Blue
By Val Simon Meet Officer Neil Giansanti Policing on Marco Island means sand in your boots instead of snow, says Marco PD patrol officer Neil Giansanti. Giansanti is a former Connecticut State Trooper and fraud investigator for the Florida Department of Financial Services who has been with the Marco PD for a year and a half. In his [...]
Men in Blue
By Val Simon Meet George Guyer George is from the City of Brotherly Love-Philadelphia. More specifically he’s from the City of Chester, where he worked as a policeman for ten years. So what drew him to Marco Island? As with most people the weather rates high on lists of reasons why someone would want to move to Southwest Florida. George [...]
Men in Blue: Paul Keys
by Danielle Dodder It is no small feather in your cap to say that you worked to help found a police department, but that’s just the opportunity officer Paul Keys found when he came to Marco in 1999. Like many of the Marco Island Police Department officers, Keys arrived from a big city ‘up North’ and used his hard-earned experience to [...]
Men in Blue: Meet Frank Steiger
by Val Simon Frank has been with the Marco Island Police Department for 4 years. He hails from South Bend, Indiana and says it took awhile to get accustomed to Marco Island, especially being waved at with all five fingers while driving around the town! How did Frank make his way to Marco Island? He was an officer in South Bend for 20 [...]
Meet Officer Hector Diaz
Officer Hector Diaz was born in New Jersey and came with his family to Jacksonville, Florida, when he was ten years old. He graduated from the St. Augustine Police Academy in 1991 as Class President, and then served as an Officer in Jacksonville for the following seven years. He was only the fourth Officer to be hired by the newly formed Marco [...]
Men and Women in Blue
Meet Officer Linda Guerrero Sergeant Linda Guerrero describes herself as a “rare bird”, as she is one of very few native Floridians who live and work here on Marco Island. Linda was born and raised in Miami, where, playing piano, guitar and percussion, upon leaving high school, she studied to be a music teacher. Unable to continue her [...]
