[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 109 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1060-E1061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JAMES PREVITERA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID W. JOLLY

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 7, 2016

  Mr. JOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize James Previtera, 
St. Petersburg Assistant Chief of Police.
  Mr. Previtera is a St. Petersburg native and recently joined the 
local law enforcement division. In 1983, as a senior in high school, he 
went on a ride-along with local law enforcement, sparking his passion 
for police work. Subsequently he joined the force and in 1986 he became 
a deputy for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department where he would 
serve for 11 years.
  In 1997, Mr. Previtera left the Sheriff's Office and joined the U.S. 
Secret Service. He

[[Page E1061]]

was a member for eight years and protected Vice President Dick Cheney 
from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, he returned to St. Petersburg and joined 
the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office where he served as a major in 
charge of the Training Divisions before becoming a colonel in command 
for the county's jail facilities.
  It was in this role within the jail facilities that Mr. Previtera 
observed first-hand how mental illness can induce criminal activity and 
how the justice system had previously neglected this reality. He 
started a program to transfer mentally-ill inmates from jail into 
treatment centers where they could be treated effectively.
  In 2014, when a new police chief in St. Petersburg gave Mr. Previtera 
the chance to join the police department as an assistant chief in 
charge of the Investigative Services bureau down there, he jumped at 
the opportunity. It gave him the chance to finally return to his home 
city and make a difference where it all started.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Previtera for the work he 
has done for Pinellas County and for our nation. I ask that this body 
join me in thanking Mr. Previtera for his continued outstanding 
service.

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