Thomas Richard “Tommy” Merrill

Call to service: I quit high school in March 1959 to join the Air Force. I was a nuclear weapons specialist and was in from 1959 to 1963. I got my GED in the Air Force but took the Florida GED after I got out to get my diploma from Umatilla High School.

Who inspired me: The state trooper teaching Driver’s Ed. in high school and trooper Johnny Cox from Clermont, who always gassed up at the station I ran in Umatilla.

Greatest accomplishment: I received the Distinguished Service Award from Florida Peace Officers’ Association and was recognized as the longest-serving police chief in the United States.

If I had to do it over again: I’d do it the same way. I loved my job and enjoyed going to work. I liked putting bad people in jail and helping good people.

I’m most proud of: The people I hired. You’re only as good as the people who work under you. I trained a lot of police officers who worked all over the state after they worked for me.

Impactful experience: In March 1969, I got in a bad shootout during an arrest and had to shoot a man. Back in those days, you didn’t go to a therapist when you shot somebody. You just had to work it out. I talked to other officers who’d been through it, so that’s what helped me. I quit for a while and went to work at a Ford dealership, but that wasn’t what I liked to do.

Since retiring: I have a John Deere tractor, so I stay busy taking care of our place in Mabel and helping my neighbors.

Favorite meal: Ribeye steak cooked medium rare with baked potato and banana pudding for dessert.

On my bucket list: My mother was 93 when she died and I turned 82 in December, so I’d like to live as long as she did. 

FUN FACT: Chief Among Chiefs: America’s Longest-Serving Police Chief: Biography of Chief Tommy Merrill (by Buddy Haack and Gayle Beck) was released in August 2025 and is available on Amazon.

Photos: Provided