A retired Pinellas County deputy is remembered as the first female Black deputy in the county.

Darlene Allen always wanted to be a police officer. She said, “It actually started when I was a child growing up in the outskirts of Ocala in a little town called Flemington, Florida.”

Flemington sits in Marion County, population so small even Wikipedia doesn’t have a number.

“It’s very rural,” Allen added. She said growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, there wasn’t much TV to watch.

“Being rural you didn’t get many channels but one of the channels we did get was Police Woman," she said. "That really became my favorite TV show and my dream was, 'Oh, I want to be just like her, I want to be a Police Woman just like Angie, well we called her Sergeant Pepper.”

The role of Sergeant Pepper, played by Angie Dickinson, led Allen to follow through.

Darlene Allen was recently honored for her career in Pinellas County law enforcement.

“After a month of working in the jail, I got the call back in September 1980 that there was an opening for Deputy Sheriff," she said. And then becoming Pinellas County's first female Black deputy in the 80’s, fulfilling her dream didn’t come easy.

“I remember pulling a gentlemen over for a traffic violation and he was appalled that I had the nerve to even stop him," Allen said.

She said the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office helped her pave the way for others. “My department came up with the idea of putting the training officers in plan clothes,” allowing for civilians to respect the person in uniform regardless of their color or gender.

"I never thought my dream would be my legacy,” Allen finished by saying, "It feels great."

Deputy Allen retired after almost 35 years in the force. Her son is now carrying over the legacy.