Everybody LUVs Derek!
Admittedly, it’s not natural for the most LUVed guy in town to be the one who hands out parking tickets. But such is the case with the 2023 My Winter Park Neighbor of the Year, Derek Tooley.
I often think Derek is more Ray Ramano than Chris Rock: Everybody LUVs Derek. That is no exaggeration.
In an era when cynicism of others is common, Derek is as positive, sincere and genuinely pleasant as anyone you will ever meet. As ridiculous as it is, even recipients of the gifts he leaves under windshield wipers end up LUVing him, have been know to apologize TO HIM, thank him for it.
A member of the Winter Park Police Department for 16 years, Derek is a Winter Park native. When he’s not on Park Avenue in his official capacity, you may just find him cruising it on his Harley Davidson motorcycle.
I once jokingly asked him if he’d made a deal with the devil to become such a beLUVed bestower of parking tickets. “Here’s the thing,” he responded, “it all depends on how you talk to people, how you explain things to them. You don’t just write tickets saying you can’t park there and then go. I take my time. I explain to them why they got a citation for parking in a no parking zone. And they feel better. And I say, hey, there’s no points on your license, nothing against your registration. They brighten up when I tell them that.”
He shares: “To be honest with you, I had a guy who stopped me at 7 Eleven one day who said you gave me a ticket one time, but you were so cool about it, I’m gonna buy you a Slurpee today. I was shocked myself!”
Derek is always Derek, no matter what’s going on in his life. He is well known to begin his day sending everyone positive wishes for the day on Facebook. He is big on respect. “I don’t care how old you are, how young,” he told me. “It’s just the way I was brought up, to say yes, ma ‘am and no, sir. It could be a kid that’s 13 years old and I’ll say sir. It’s just the way I was brought up, my dad being a Marine.”
Derek is exactly the sort of individual any community would want not just interacting with Locals, but offering that positive first impression to its visitors. He is as positive an ambassador as our community could ask .
Everybody LUVs Derek!