- May 6, 2026
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Riding in the passenger seat of Deputy Sarah Brown’s police car, I listened as she referenced the movie “Forrest Gump.”
“Traffic stops are like a box of chocolates,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
After spending five hours with Brown during her 12-hour shift April 30, this reporter would contend that beyond the unexpected, the box is also bottomless.
If it weren’t for me slowing her down to explain how the equipment works and why she made certain decisions after each stop, Brown would’ve handed out a lot more warnings and tickets that morning.
But even without a reporter in tow, Brown couldn’t possibly stop and ticket every traffic offender because there are drivers breaking the rules of the road every minute, if not every second.
When parked at the entrance of Manatee Technical College on State Road 70, a car zipped past us into the parking lot. Brown said mid-sentence, “See, he’s not wearing his seatbelt.” When driving westbound on S.R. 70 near Greenbrook Boulevard, she glanced left for a second and said, “Do you see this girl texting on her phone?”
I didn’t notice those offenses, but Brown has developed a keen eye for spotting traffic infractions. She also drives with a license plate reader that regularly beeps to alert her to suspended licenses, stolen vehicles, expired tags and arrest warrants.
Brown has worked for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office for two years and was a Michigan State Trooper for four years. Prior to law enforcement, she owned a CrossFit gym with her husband, Kevin.
She’s one of 17 deputies in the Manatee County Sheriff's Office Traffic Unit. There are also three sergeants and four motor deputies, who patrol on motorcycles.
Brown’s workload is absolutely nonstop, but her passion for the work is boundless. It’s evident that she loves her job, and that’s not to say she loves handing out tickets. Most of the speeding tickets she wrote were for speeds that carry lesser fines because she’s “not in it just to hammer people.”
Brown said she’s a people person. She enjoys interacting with the public. Her goal is to educate and offer “perspective.”
Having been pulled over a few times for speeding in my younger years, I can’t recall a friendlier police officer.
Brown flashed a smile during each interaction, even when she described the drivers as annoyed or aggressive upon contact. She wins them over with an upbeat demeanor and a heartfelt intention to keep the roads safe.
“I try to always get a 'Thank you,'” she said. “That’s my goal, even though I’m giving someone a ticket. I’m usually very successful with that.”
However, Brown is also firm in her messaging and a self-described “stickler” when it comes to speeding through school zones and construction zones, along with being strict about children who are not buckled with a seatbelt because it’s the parent’s responsibility to protect them.
When Brown pulled over a gray SUV traveling at 69 mph in a 45-mph construction zone, she pointed out a worker to the driver.
“Doesn’t he deserve to go home to his family tonight?” she asked the driver.
A day earlier, Sgt. Rob Hendrickson asked for Brown’s assistance patrolling a construction zone in Duette. She parked near a roadside cross that said “I love you, Dad” to leave drivers with an unmistakable reason as to why driving safely matters.
The National Safety Council reported that 898 people were killed in 2023 with 40,170 people injured in work zone crashes.
Brown keeps up-to-date on statistics using the Florida Traffic Safety Dashboard. Just this year, there have been 350 fatalities, 1,647 serious injury crashes and 95,000 crashes across the state.
She can also use the tool to focus on Manatee County. Brown noted that a lot of the rural crashes cause fatalities because of how fast people are driving.
Deciding where to patrol is not random. Deputies patrol areas where either data or residents have told them there’s an issue.
While it might be nice to have more deputies in the traffic unit, that wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem.
“I’ve learned that even if we have more units, it’s not always a manning problem,” Brown said. “It’s a behavior problem for drivers. They’ll see me and slow down, then speed back up again. So maybe I wasn’t going to go after you, but you clearly didn’t change your behavior, so now we’re going to have a conversation.”
Brown struggled to point out particular roads where she finds the most speeding because “it’s everywhere,” but she noted 34th Street West on the west side of the county and Bourneside Boulevard on the east side of the county as two roads that see “freeway speeds.”
She clocked a teenager driving 84 mph on Bourneside Boulevard, but what was worse, he was eating pizza while driving that fast.
“It’s a wide open road, but there are people walking their dogs. There are bikers and pedestrians,” Brown said. “People always try to apologize to me. I tell them to apologize to the citizens of Manatee County because you’re putting them at risk.”
It’s not just teenagers speeding. Brown stops a lot of older golfers speeding on Bourneside Boulevard. A few weeks ago, she asked one of them why he was in such a hurry to get to his golf game. The answer was that he wanted to tee off before sunset.
While most traffic stops are routine, Brown doesn’t know that until she reaches the car. It’s that box of chocolates because you never know how someone’s going to react.
“This is just traffic, but I wish the community could see what police officers go through and what they do on a daily basis,” Brown said. “My first year in law enforcement no one ever educated me on the low that comes with the adrenaline rush.”
All day long, the adrenaline in a police officer is shooting up and down, and that includes traffic deputies.
I got just a small taste of it when Brown pulled over a Chevrolet Suburban with invalid tags.
I instantly felt nervous as she approached the car because given invalid tags, there was a chance the car was stolen. And then, all of a sudden, the driver started to open the car door.
“That’s what gets my heart rate going,” Brown said. “When I see a door opening, I have no idea if that person’s getting out to shoot me or fight me.”
Both our heart rates lowered when it was realized that the female driver had dropped her phone and was simply trying to retrieve it.
But as Brown was back in the car printing up a written warning for follow-up purposes, in case the driver doesn’t correct the clerical error and is pulled over again, the driver kept leaning over to the passenger seat.
Again, my mind was instinctively asking questions: "What is she doing? Is she grabbing for something? Was she only pretending to be nice?"
Brown told me the driver was likely looking for her insurance information, but Brown also remained alert because people regularly lie to her.
In her opinion and experience, people also see Brown as less of a threat because she’s a woman. There’s a term “verbal judo,” which refers to an officer’s presence, and Brown has learned to use it well.
She said verbally de-escalating a situation can mean the difference between life or death.
Traffic deputies don’t only deal with drivers running red lights and speeding, they arrest intoxicated drivers who are incoherent and often combative. The best verbal judo in the world won't calm them.
Brown doesn’t usually get a "Thank you" from drunk drivers. She’s been screamed at, spit on and called a life ruiner. Yet every shift, Brown shows up with a smile and a purpose.
“It’s stressful, but it’s rewarding, too,” she said.
