Longtime FHP public affairs officer retires

Lt. Patrick Riordan was well known to media representatives and the public over his 39-year career.


FHP Lt. Patrick Riordan retired after a 39-year career. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]

Home » Safety
Posted August 7, 2024 | By Andy Fillmore, [email protected]

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan, the longtime public affairs officer for Trooper B, which covers Marion and eight other North Central Florida counties, had his last radio call at a retirement ceremony in Lake City on Aug. 2 after 39 years of service.

“(ID number) 79 is 10-42,” Riordan responded to the FHP Jacksonville Communications Center after a dispatcher wished him “Godspeed and good fortune” in his next venture.

The radio code 10-42 means “out of service.”

“You will be missed,” said one FHP official.

Lt. Jim Beauford, FHP Chief of Public Affairs, stationed in Tallahassee, commented on Riordan’s nearly four-decade career.

“Lt. Patrick Riordan served the citizens of Florida with the Florida Highway Patrol for 39 years. His relentless efforts promoting public safety have no doubt saved countless lives,” Beauford stated in an email.

Letters of congratulations from top officials and a certificate of retirement from FHP Director Col. Gary Howze were part of the ceremony.

Riordan, 63, a native of Hialeah, had different employment but decided to pursue a career with the FHP in the early 1980s. He graduated from the FHP Academy in 1985 with the 74th basic recruit class.

The FHP recently announced the graduation of 44 basic recruits in the 153rd class of the 29-week course.

Riordan’s FHP career included assignments Troop E, Miami-Dade County; Troop D, which includes Brevard and five surrounding counties; Troop C, which includes Hillsborough and five surrounding counties; and Troop B, where he began his service as PAO in 2008 while stationed in Lake City.

Riordan became the FHP’s face and voice familiar to the media and public alike during major cases in Marion, Alachua, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy and Suwannee counties, which are covered by FHP Troop B.

As PAO, Riordan’s career included fielding questions and proving information on scores of local cases over the years, including the bus crash on State Road 40 that claimed eight lives in May.

Riordan, from a “Catholic family” of six brothers and one sister, said two brothers followed him to the FHP and one joined the Florida Marine Patrol, which later merged with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Riordan and his wife, who also was recognized at the ceremony, have three children and seven grandchildren.

“I will miss is the people I work with and the people I get to meet, especially when I have an opportunity to talk with them about a relationship with God,” he stated in a text.

 

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