TAMPA, Fla. — After more than three decades serving the Tampa Bay community, Trooper Barbara Ehrhart retired Tuesday. She was the longest-serving female highway patrol officer in Florida.
“Today’s bittersweet for me,” said Ehrhart. “I’ve loved my career. I still love the highway patrol. I always will. But it’s time for me to move on.”
Ehrhart spent her entire 36-year career working for FHP’s F-Troop in Manatee County.
When she joined the Florida Highway Patrol back in 1983, there’d been one female trooper there before her.
Since then there have been more than a hundred.
“It was a shell shock for the community,” said Ehrhart, “Because they had never seen female police officers, much less troopers. Because this was more of a male-oriented position at that point. So, it was some trying times.”
In those 36 years, Earhart saw the best and worst parts of the job.
The toughest part, she said, was delivering the devastating news of a fatality to a loved one.
But there have been highlights too. She got a chance to work the presidential inauguration in 2016. She was awarded for her work battling DUIs in Florida.
Oh, and then there was that guy she met at the FHP Auxiliary.
“I met my husband through the highway patrol,” said Ehrhart, “which was exciting.”
Earhart spent her whole career at the rank of state trooper. She could have been promoted several times over the years but turned it down.
“To me, yes, this is my career, but (being a) mom was first,” said Ehrhart. “I was a mom first. And that’s why I chose to stay here. Because when you promote, a lot of times you get moved.”
Earhart hopes her more than three decades of service has inspired more women to consider a career in law enforcement. She also hopes as an instructor. She has served as a role model for those who have.
“Anytime that I see any females that are interested, I try to let them know that, you know, you can do anything you put your mind to,” she said.
Taking to the radio for her last call-out, Ehrhart thanked her colleagues and her family. She also said she’s still planning to volunteer as a reservist for the FHP because she's not quite ready to cut the cord completely.
“I’ve been here the whole 36 years. So, it’s kind of like a home for me,” she said.
Still, she knows it won’t be the same routine she’s has. For more than three decades, a real trooper -- in every sense of the word.
As she ended her radio transmission, a dispatcher’s voice crackled back across the airwaves.
“Trooper Barber Ehrhart, thank you for your 36 years of dedicated service to the Florida Highway Patrol, the residents of Manatee County, and the residents of the great State of Florida. May God bless you and your family.”
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