During a recent awards ceremony at the Grand Key Resort, Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg named Officer Leo Hernandez as Officer of the Year 2020.
Officer Hernandez started with the City in November of 2011, working in Code Compliance. He had a distinguished and unblemished career spanning over eight years working as a code officer. During this time, he became well known in the Key West community, not only for his professionalism, but his willingness to help people.
In 2019, he attended the Law Enforcement Academy and became a sworn police officer.
Soon after his field training, the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Throughout the year, when it became necessary for police officers to enforce the mandatory mask mandate, Officer Hernandez was the first to volunteer to undertake this task on Duval Street.
“Officer Hernandez comes to work every day with a positive attitude,” said Chief Brandenburg. “He continuously motivates other officers with his contagiously positive attitude.”
Officer Hernandez’s experience in Code makes him a wealth of information to his fellow officers, says Capt. JR Torres. “He displays all of the positive attributes one could ask for in a police officer. He is intelligent, fair, supportive, caring, empathetic, knowledgeable, patient, on time, and overall a great worker.”
“He has proven invaluable to this city and to the Department,” said Chief Brandenburg.
In the photo: Officer Leo Hernandez and Chief Sean Brandenburg