Perfect pairing

For Sarasota Police Department Lt. Kenneth Castro and newly sworn-in officer Veronica Hernandez, a pair of glasses has sparked a lifelong relationship that has changed both of their lives.

In 1997, Castro was working as a member of the department’s Community Resource Team in the Cohen Way housing projects. Hernandez, 13 at the time, was a resident in those projects, and caught Castro’s eye — at first, for the wrong reasons.

“It was apparent to me that, after she would come home from school, she would hang out with a group of kids that weren’t doing their homework and she wasn’t doing what she should be doing,” Castro said.

Castro had already striven to improve the community he was policing, by helping to create a neighborhood library in the area’s police substation. He thought he saw something in Hernandez — the potential to turn her situation around and for her to avoid trouble with the right guidance. He approached her and asked her about her situation, overtures that were largely ignored initially.

“At first, I really didn’t pay much attention to him,” Hernandez said. “He was kind of really persistent.”

That persistence paid off. Eventually, Castro keyed in on a major issue: Hernandez had had her glasses stolen months earlier, which was negatively impacting her ability to succeed in school.

“I was nearly blind,” Hernandez said. “A person standing 10 feet away from me was a blur. Everything was a blur to me.”

Luckily Castro was old friends with an optician: Ron Soto, who ran a glasses shop in downtown Sarasota. Castro reached out to Soto, who was more than willing to help replace the glasses. Almost instantly after she received her new pair of glasses her grades started improving — a change for which Castro is reluctant to take too much credit.

“She did the hard work,” Castro said. “She had to do the homework, show up when we told her to. A few times, we had to say, ‘Hey, get back in here,’ but she was just a typical child that needed someone to inspire her and motivate her.”

The two didn’t lose touch after Hernandez received the glasses. Castro and Hernandez both described it as a sort of father-daughter relationship — when she was going through tough times, she looked to Castro for support. Whether it was during her time in the U.S. Air Force or at college at the University of Turabo in Puerto Rico, Castro was there when Hernandez needed a boost.

Castro also helped to shape Hernandez’s career ambitions. From her early teens, inspired by her interactions with police, Hernandez was determined to become a police officer. She took some detours — while in Puerto Rico, she served as a martial arts instructor at an orphanage — but upon returning to Sarasota, she focused on achieving that goal.

“It gave me the opportunity to also give back to the community and also inspire other young people as well,” Hernandez said. “That’s what I’ve been driven by, is just inspiring people, because it did impact me so much. It took me a long time to get here, but I always had it in my heart that I always wanted to give back to my community and help out.”

On Jan. 26, Hernandez was officially sworn in as a member of the Sarasota Police Department — and Castro was there to pin on her badge. The ceremony was an emotional experience for both individuals, a moment 17 years in the making.

“It’s a very special moment that’s never going to be forgotten,” Hernandez said. “It’s going to be held near to my heart because it was a long journey and he was part of it.”

As Hernandez begins her training with the police department, Castro is confident she’s a perfect fit for her new position.

“I personally feel she’ll be excellent, because her heart is in it,” Castro said. “That’s half the battle, if not more.”