Meet Cpt. Joe Picanzo, new OCSO Sector 3 commander

“The sheriff, Jerry Demings, moves his managers around every few years,” Picanzo said. “He likes to get people moved around to different experiences. He assigned me to this assignment. He was moving his managers every couple years. It doesn’t mean he moves everybody, but he can, and he’s been known to to get them moved to different types of assignments.”

Demings moved Picanzo to Sector 3 commander Jan. 1, which Picanzo found out about around a month before that in the first week in December, when Demings sent out some management moves, Picanzo said.

“I was assigned to street crimes, which is a special operations division with units like tactical patrol, problem-oriented policing, gang operations and the juvenile arrest and monitor unit,” Picanzo said of his previous work. “I had been there about one-and-a-half, two years.”

Picanzo is in his 25th year with the Sheriff’s Office, for which he has held many other positions, such as with criminal investigations for a long time, homicide for six years, a patrol lieutenant and a traffic lieutenant.

“I was assigned to the gang unit at one point for six or seven years, pretty much all operational assignments,” he said.

So far, one aspect of the West Orange area that has struck Picanzo most is its diversity, he said, with an array of urban, suburban and rural areas.

“You’re dealing with street crimes, robberies, burglaries, narcotics and then with trespassing or farming or water rights issues people are having problems with, the variety it presents and other challenges,” he said.

As for resource deployment, Picanzo is trying to continue balancing an equitable distribution with the needs of each area within the sector.

“We put a lot of resources into the Pine Hills area, only because we obviously want to keep crime under control, and the Pine Hills area drives crime rates for the whole sector,” he said. “We put a lot of resources there, but we don’t want to neglect other areas. Even though other areas may not be as well known for criminal activity, there are other areas where we might have occasional home problems and robberies, and we want to spread resources across our sector equally.”

Sector 3 stands out in residents’ activity with neighborhood watch programs and other ways they strive to help keep communities safe and attractive, Picanzo said.

“I haven’t always noticed that in other areas of the county,” he said. “I have noticed people take ownership and pride in where they live. That (Horizon West) town hall meeting was a pretty good turnout, and I’ve been to Pine Hills Council, Orlo Vista, other places. I’m just trying to get out and meet people, things like that. I think it’s been interesting.”

The future for this sector interests Picanzo, as well, with some upgrades due for the force.

“I brought up the other day that we’re excited to introduce body cameras with our deputies, and I think that’s exciting,” he said. “In the last few years, we have really used technology to help us track crimes and software to predict where crime might occur in certain areas. Instead of being reactive, we can try to interdict as it’s occurring. We’re using all the resources at our fingertips and trying to use technology to our best efforts to improve safety in the community.”

Picanzo, a graduate of Columbia Southern University, also has been a mortgage loan consultant for Synergy Mortgage Services since 2006 and an acoustic guitarist and singer playing rock and country.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].