Longtime face of police department retires

Marilyn Dzikas worked under five Longboat Key police chiefs. She retired Aug. 7 after serving the town for 30 years.

By Kurt Schultheis
| 6:00 a.m. August 19, 2015

Longboat Key Police Administrative Assistant Marilyn Dzikas retired Aug. 7 after 30 years of service with the town of Longboat Key.

Longboat Key
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Ask longtime Longboat Key Police Administrative Assistant Marilyn Dzikas to pick a favorite police chief she’s served over the past 30 years, and she'll refuse. But ask her about her toughest day on the job, and she doesn't hesitate.

It was May 14, 2012, when Pete Cumming, then a police captain who is now the department's chief, informed her after her lunch break that Police Chief Al Hogle died in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina.

“I broke down right away,” Dzikas said. “It was such a shock, and it was the hardest thing I’ve been through in my 30 years serving the town.”

Working with the chiefs

Longboat Key Police Administrative Assistant Marilyn Dzikas served with five police chiefs during her 30-year career. She said she wouldn’t pick her favorite chief but agreed to provide her personal thoughts on each one.

Wayne McCammon (1973-1996)

“Wayne McCammon commanded a tight ship. If he didn’t like what you were doing, he would tell you. People respected him. He was a great mentor and leader. He was a funny guy... I was impressed the way he handled the McAllister murder in 1990. He went to Georgia himself and arrested that man. (Realtor Martha McAllister was murdered in 1990 after showing a house near Longboat Key Town Hall.)

Tom Coons (May 1996-October 1996)

“Tom Coons was a funny, outgoing guy who liked his liquor. He was the opposite of McCammon. If you ever needed Coons, you could find him at the Colony bar. Things were a lot different back then.”

John Kintz (1996-2002)

“John Kintz was a great detective and a very good police chief. He could have been a great private investigator.”

Al Hogle (2002-2012)

“Al was the best. A great, great, great man who exuded leadership. A down-to-earth man who asked about my kids and genuinely cared about you.”

Pete Cumming (2012-present)

“Pete’s a hard-working police chief. A good guy with a good personality.”

Dzikas, who retired Aug. 7 after serving the town for nearly 30 years, has worked under five police chiefs, serving as their assistant and the front-desk greeter at the police department.

In 1985, she took a job as the police department’s record clerk before becoming the personal assistant to the police chief, a role she had for 28 years.

Dzikas handled paperwork, processing, travel arrangements and appointments for the police chief. She also oversaw building maintenance requests for the police station and helped chiefs build their annual budgets. Most recently, she took on the responsibility of minute-taker for the town’s Code Enforcement Board

“I wore a lot of different hats,” Dzikas said. “It’s been a long journey here, but it went by so fast.”

Dzikas is known for always having a smile on her face for those who entered the police department and her police car Matchbox car collection that she kept on her desk.

“The personnel changes that have happened here in the past few years and the pending dispatch switch have made it hard on everyone and Marilyn has been the glue that keeps this department together,” Cumming said. “I’ve never seen an unhappy face on Marilyn. We all think the world of her and we’re going to miss her.”

Dzikas, who lives in Bradenton, is ready to spend more time with her 10-month-old twin granddaughters, Olivia and Ellie. She said she’ll also have more time to visit her daughter, Megan Dzikas, in Springfield, Ky., who recently accepted the girls’ basketball head coach position at St. Catharine College in St. Catharine, Ky.

“It’s time to enjoy my second life as grandma and be able to travel and take it easy,” Dzikas said.