Lt. Paul Andrews is one of the newest members of UPD and the first featured officer of the semester. Juliet Di Preta | The Crow’s Nest
By Juliet Di Preta
Lt. Paul Andrews, 52, is one of the newest police officers on campus as of March.
“Prior to coming here, I was six years at St. Petersburg College,” Andrews said. “Prior to that, I was in law enforcement for 27 years at the city of Pinellas Park.”
But Andrews is no stranger to the Bull, as he received his master’s degree in criminal justice administration from USF in 2008.
Andrews became involved with law enforcement at a young age through the Police Explorers program, a function of the Boy Scouts of America.
“I got involved with that as a teenager at Treasure Island Police Department, and that kind of got me interested in that track,” he said.
“From there I eventually became a dispatcher and then a police officer, and then promoted up through the ranks at my old agency,” he said. “So, I’ve been involved in some form of function of law enforcement since about 1982.”
Born in New Jersey, Andrews moved to the St. Petersburg area when he was 2 years old. His first job was at a golf course and tennis court, where he was responsible for maintenance.
Andrews has been married to his wife Michele for 32 years. They have three adult children, two boys and a girl.
“Two of them, coincidently, are in law enforcement now,” Andrews said.
Having both cats and dogs in his life, Andrews stated that he prefers cats due to their low-maintenance nature.
“We have one cat, Agnes,” Andrews said. “My daughter named her after the character from Despicable Me.”
Andrews didn’t have many hobbies growing up, but found endurance sports piqued his interest.
“I’ve done endurance sports up until a few years ago,” Andrews said. “I’ve done a couple of half ironman triathlons and some other shorter distance triathlons as well.”
Between figuring out the new job and getting things done around the house, Andrews also enjoys the occasional video game.
“When my daughter doesn’t hound the Playstation 4, I’ll play a video game once in awhile,” Andrews said.
He likes sports and racing games over first-person shooter games.
“It just doesn’t interest me. My kids on the other hand, they love it,” Andrews said.
Andrews’ interest in sports doesn’t end at video games, though.
“I grew up here, so I was here before we had sports teams,” Andrews said. “I’m a homer, I like all the home teams.”
“Funny for a Florida guy, but hockey is probably my number one,” he said. “My wife and kids actually are drawn towards that.”
