Key West Police name Randall Hartle 2025 Officer of the Year

A motor officer whose career began in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks was named Key West Police Department’s 2025 Officer of the Year, a recognition that put Randall Hartle at the center of a ceremony built around steady service, visible patrol work and local support.

Police Chief Sean Brandenburg presented the award April 24 at the DoubleTree Grand Key Resort. Keys Federal Credit Union and Blue Marlin Jewelry each sponsored a $500 prize, bringing Hartle’s total award to $1,000 and underscoring the role local businesses continue to play in the department’s public honors.

Hartle joined the Key West Police Department on Sept. 17, 2001, just after the terrorist attacks that reshaped law enforcement across the country. The department has described him as focused on building community relationships, and his latest and favorite assignment has been as a motor officer, a post that keeps him visible on streets where residents, workers and visitors overlap every day.

That visibility matters in Key West, where traffic, tourism and neighborhood life collide in a small island city that depends on officers who can move quickly, stay approachable and keep order without losing the personal touch. Hartle’s recognition highlighted the kind of police work that often draws the strongest response from local businesses and longtime residents alike, the work that is seen most often but is rarely celebrated with a formal title.

The award also fit a pattern inside the department. In February 2023, the city honored the KWPD Motor Unit at its annual awards ceremony, and Hartle was one of the officers recognized on that team. Other recent honorees have included Tyler Getchel as Officer of the Year for 2022 and Leo Hernandez for 2020. Andrea Bernatova was also previously named Police Officer of the Year with sponsorship from Opal Key Resort and Marina.

Taken together, the awards show a department that uses its annual ceremony to point out not just individual achievement, but the kind of dependable, public-facing policing that residents can recognize in their own neighborhoods and business districts. Hartle’s honor placed that work front and center once again.