Charlotte County Florida Weekly

PGPD administrative services supervisor fulfilled at last





KATHY GREY / FLORIDA WEEKLY Troy Bettencourt

KATHY GREY / FLORIDA WEEKLY Troy Bettencourt

Troy Bettencourt was born in New Bedford, Mass. And if you know anything about New Bedford, you assume that someone in the family must be of Portugese descent. Indeed, the 35-year-old’s father is 100 percent Portuguese, and his mother gave him his fair, youthful looks.

“I was carded at Publix the other day when I went to buy champagne,” he said. After he showed his identification to the young clerk, she exclaimed, “You’re the same age as my mom!”

He’s not too old — or young — to be the administrative services supervisor for the Punta Gorda Police Department, where he is, among other things, its public information officer.

Mr. Bettencourt attended Fairhaven High in New Bedford and went to college for a year in Worcester Poly Technic Institute. He then enlisted in the army and was an engineering student. Today, he has a master’s degree in public administration with a criminal justice focus.

He spent his first five Army years in the infantry and the next seven with Army criminal investigation. He spent four years in Hawaii, where he met his wife, Jenifer. The couple then moved to the Washington, D.C., area, were Mr. Bettencourt spent close to four years sniffing-out international computer hacking.

“The worst thing about D.C. was I was in a windowless office. I went to work in the dark and I left when it was dark. I only saw the sun on weekends.”

“You’re serving the national interest in D.C., but for me, it wasn’t so personally fulfilling. I might work a year and a half on a case, and it might get turned over to a country that doesn’t view computer hacking as a crime.”

The D.C. experience made Mr. Bettencourt yearn to live in a place with strong community focus.

Mr. Bettencourt’s wife, Jenifer, is a freelance artist who creates multi-media wall hangings and outdoor art. She hand-customizes wine and martini stems with glass beads and wire and seems to have stumbled upon a craft so popular, she has no time to create an inventory.

“When we first moved here, we had a kitchen and bath refinishing business and she did the accounting,” Mr. Bettencourt said.

My uncle started the business in 1998, and in 2005, we purchased it. We ran it for two years and I wanted to get back into law enforcement. So we sold it to my father. Kept it in the family,” he chuckles.

I went back into law enforcement because there’s a sense of working for a higher purpose. I enjoyed working for myself, but maximizing profits wasn’t personally fulfilling,” Mr. Bettencourt said.

“I used to leave the house and call out to Jenifer, ‘I’m off to save the world one bathroom at a time!”

Mr. Bettencourt discovered work at the Punta Gorda Police Department during an online search of surrounding agencies. He snapped up the position of accreditation manager within the department.

“Every three years we renew with the State Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation,” which ensures the department is complying with policy and procedures that match state mandates. Mr. Bettencourt verifies that the department is operating within the industry’s best practices.

He also oversees fund accounting, building security, grant administration, policies and procedures and staff inspections.

“Last year, we had a reorganization in the department and I took my current position as administrative services supervisor — I wouldn’t use the acronym,” he grins.

When the deputy chief position was eliminated public information responsibilities of the job were assigned to Mr. Bettencourt.

The deputy chief then became chief.

“His (public information) knowledge is invaluable to me,” Mr. Bettencourt said.

“We really enjoy a good relationship with the press. It’s our chance to accurately inform the public about what we know. We have a message we want to get out. The best way to accomplish that is to maintain a positive relationship with the media.”

Troy and Jenifer Bettencourt and their 5-year-old son, Aaron, live in a Charlotte Harbor home that’s in a constant state of renovation. He’s replaced the home’s windows on weekends, one at a time. And the couple converted an old home office into a studio space for Jenifer’s art. Son Aaron is finishing up county summer camp and will enroll as a kindergartener in a Charlotte public school.

The couple loves Charlotte County, but the first year was lonely. Though they’re blessed with family in the area and feel the whole community is more accessible than many, the couple didn’t form a circle of close friends until they joined the Charlotte County Young Professionals. Jenifer served as the group’s treasurer and Mr. Bettencourt serves as public relations director, where he spends hours dedicated to the group’s Web site and newsletter.

“I work a lot,” Mr. Bettencourt admits. “I teach for the University of Phoenix online at night” — masters-level criminal justice courses.

He says most people don’t know what it is he does when he goes to work.

Now they know. ¦

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