The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) welcomed nine new officers to its ranks on Friday, with fathers, fiancées and role models pinning badges to their loved ones as families celebrated from the audience.  

But somber currents ran through the celebration as the department remembered the serial murders of five UF students that, come August, occurred 35 years ago and acknowledged the challenging job facing the recruits.  

“By the way, this is a joyous occasion. It is. But I’d be remiss if I don’t take these opportunities to talk about what I think is real,” GPD Chief Nelson Moya said.   

The remembrance of the UF student murders was sparked by newly sworn Officer Jordan Gonzalez, whose uncle, Manuel Taboada, was one of the victims.  

Gonzalez wasn’t born when the murders happened but said he’s seen the impact on his family. He was a young kid when he and his father were watching a forensic show. 

“An episode came on about the 1990 student murders that occurred here in Gainesville, and my dad told me, ‘That’s family,’” Gonzalez recalled at Friday’s ceremony.  

As he grew up, Gonzalez said the dots fully connected. He said he always wanted to be a police officer, and his family’s connection with GPD staff, even years after the crimes, pushed him to move to Gainesville last year to serve here instead of South Florida, where he grew up. 

Gonzalez said his stepbrother is also a police officer, but it’s not a family with a lot of law enforcement history. He said his family supported him with lots of joyful tears when he decided to pursue the career.

“Just seeing how GPD still followed through and cared about my family—sending letters, sending flowers—it meant a lot,” Gonzalez said.

Former Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell worked as GPD’s public information officer during the student murder cases. She joined Mario Taboada, the brother of Manuel Taboada, during the ceremony.  

Before speaking, Mario Taboada paused and addressed the crowd.  

“Every chance I can to kiss an angel, I do it,” he said.  

Taboada kissed Darnell on the cheek, and she then recalled the events and the fear she had of speaking to the families. Darnell said Laura Knudson, who couldn’t attend, was the real source of strength and kept in touch with the family.  

“When I first met the families, I was scared to death, and I needed Laura’s help because I didn’t want to say or do the wrong thing,” Darnell said. 

Darnell said crime doesn’t happen to isolated individuals. It impacts community members with ties across the city. She said the serial murders were a field test given without warning, and Gainesville came together to embrace the students’ families as part of its community.  

She said Gonzalez moving to Gainesville to join this community is a full-circle moment and speaks to the community’s character. 

A GPD officer kept a portion of the original memorial that was painted on the 34th Street mural wall. At the ceremony, the department handed it over to the Gonzalez and Taboada families. 

Earlier in the ceremony, Moya charged the families and officers to keep each other close and not let isolation win out.  

He said law enforcement is a tough job that goes through cycles. 

“It’ll be glorious. It’ll be thankless. It’ll run the full gamut. And if you’re not prepared for that cycle, that’s where I lose you, and I can’t lose you. I need you to stay and thrive and excel,” Moya told the new officers.

He told family members to give officers space to decompress, but then draw the fine line before it arrives at isolation—draw them back by whatever means, Moya said.

With the nine new officers, GPD grows to its largest staff size after several years of fighting vacancies. GDP said less than 30 vacancies remain, but another class of recruits is working through the system, and the Gainesville City Commission has indicated that it will reopen positions that were put on hold because of budget issues and vacancies.

The new GPD officers include Officer Steven Centeno, Officer Elizabeth Davey, Officer Jordan Gonzalez Officer Vontrell Johnson, Officer Michael LaTulipe, Officer Anthony Lee, Officer Sterling Mattox, Officer Miguel Perez, Officer Tiye Utley and Gonzalez.