New Native Employees at the Seminole Police Department

By Adelsa Williams

HOLLYWOOD — Recently the Seminole Police Department (SPD) added three new employees: Charlie Tiger, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, tribal citizen Gail Cypress and Cathy Frank from the Swinomish Tribe in Washington State.

Tiger attended Haskell University in Lawrence, Kan., where he studied electronics. After graduation, he lived in California for five years and was employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory and was also a diver for the California Sheriff’s Department, where he became exposed to the law enforcement environment and gained motivation to pursue a career in the field.

He retired in 1991 from the Hollywood Police Department in Florida, where he served 17 years of duty as a police officer.

After his retirement and prior to joining the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Tiger toured the Caribbean as a judge of the Billfishing Xtreme Release League that is televised on ESPN2.

Tiger said that he was approached by Jack Chalphant of the Brighton SPD, who spoke to him in hopes to recruit him into the department. Chalphant told him that as a Native American, he would be a great asset to the department and the community, and Tiger eventually joined SPD in July.

“ I was told by the community that they feel better to have someone in the department they can relate to,” said Tiger. “It's more laid back here compared to Hollywood and the department has treated me as if I’ve worked here for years.”

Tiger is a proud father of two children he raised and is married to Abby, a sergeant with the Broward Sheriff’s Office in the fugitive squad.

Cypress, Bird clan, was hired in May for the position of administrative assistant to Deputy Chief Will Latchford of the Hollywood SPD. Prior to joining the department, she was employed for several years as a clerk in the Seminole Tribe’s purchasing department.

She said of the highlights of her new position is the opportunity she has to experience what happens “on the other side of the fence.”

“ Every day I went home after work I saw what goes on the reservation,” she said, “I know the community because I live in it; now I get to know the officers as individuals.”

Cypress currently attends Broward Community College and plans to further her education, majoring in psychology. She has been a foster parent for the past two-and-a-half years. She recently took on the responsibility of caring for a newborn girl whom she fostered until she was four months old.

After that experience, she decided to commence working full time again while attending college on a part time basis.

Frank is currently training at the Broward Community College police academy and is being sponsored by the Seminole Police Department. She was previously employed at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where she worked for five years in the emergency room. Prior to that, she worked three years at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital, also in the emergency room.

Frank is married to tribal citizen Larry Frank, general manager of gaming operations at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. They have seven children, two of which live at home.