Philip A. McNiff – Lifetime Achievement Award
Good afternoon. On behalf of our Association it is my pleasure to award this year’s recipient of the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police - Lifetime Achievement Award.
This award recognizes outstanding individuals for their continued support to the Tampa Bay law enforcement community. Candidates for this award are role models and have made a significant impact to our community. They have distinguished themselves through outstanding accomplishments and contributions throughout their lifetime.
As leaders of the law enforcement community we take pride in what we do. Sometimes our job is thankless but we still strive to make a difference. Our community is important to us and we believe that this award honors those who join us by supporting and protecting our community.
A lifetime achievement includes so much, but I see it as a representation of how many lives someone has touched. This year’s award recipient has touched so many lives. He’s helped so many people, served so many people, he’s even locked a lot of them up. He has improved our community and inspired so many others with his leadership and by his example. He is a valued partner and will always be part of our law enforcement family.
He believes in the law enforcement mission, he believes in the love of family and he believes in public service. He is a man of faith and great spiritual belief. He is a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. This year’s award recipient is Mr. Philip McNiff.
This is the fourth year that the TBACPA has given this award. It was first awarded in 2008 to Mr. George Steinbrenner, in 2009 to Sheriff Walter Heinrich, and in 2010 to Ms. Vivian Reeves. As you can see all of these previous award recipients have had a lifetime of supporting law enforcement.
It truly is an honor for me to be here today to present this award but first I’d like to introduce some of our distinguished guests and Phil’s family.
Phil and Iris have been married for over 50 years, and they have 5 children, 14 grandchildren, an 5 ½ great grandchildren, all this after meeting on a blind date.
· Daughter -Patricia Hughes from Mobile, AL.
· Son- Philip and his wife Cindi and their children Philip and Meghann and her husband Austin
· Daughter- Laura Daniels and her husband Ted and their son Adam
· Daughter- Jane Wenzel and her husband Trevor and their son Connor
· Daughter -Emily Darst and her husband Ken and their children Mary Bridgett, Daniel and Stephen
Phil’s legacy of public service continues.
· His daughter, Laura is a judicial assistant to Circuit Judge Holder.
· Son-in-law, Trevor is a deputy with HCSO in the Detention unit.
· Grandson Adam is a deputy with HCSO on Sheriff Gee’s “STARS” squad.
· Grandson Philip is currently in training with HCSO’s Detention unit.
· Grandson Matthew graduated from the US Air Force Academy and now proudly serving our country
Phil was born in New York, the second of 3 children.
Phil served in the US Navy from 1945-1946. After completing his military service, he attended George Washington University on an athletic scholarship, graduating in 1950.
Phil was a great athlete, he played basketball and baseball and was offered a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers farm team. He was a four year starter for the GW Colonials basketball team and was Captain of the team. Later he became a YMCA national handball champion and then took up tennis, a game he still plays today, along with a occasional pickup basketball game.
His professional career started by following in his brother’s Tom footsteps, who was also a career FBI agent.
Phil was first appointed as an FBI Special Agent in 1951 and served in Detroit, Knoxville, New York, Cleveland and as a Supervisor in the Fugitive Section at Headquarters. Phil was assigned to Tampa as ASAC in 1970 and subsequently served from 1972 to 1980 as SAC in Mobile, New York and Tampa.
· One of Phi’s first arrest was in Detroit, MI. The suspect was a seven year fugitive (military deserter) who had changed his name and appearance and was at the time of his arrest was holding one of the county’s top law enforcement positions in the area.
· Another major investigation Phil worked on was in December 1968, Barbara Jane Mackle, was a 20-year-old Emory University student in Atlanta, GA, when she was the kidnapped by Gary Steven Krist, and Ruth Eisemann-Schier. The kidnappers drove her to a remote pine forest in Gwinnett County and buried Mackle in a alive in a box. She had a small amount of food, water and tubes to the surface for oxygen. The kidnappers demanded and received, a $500,000. After spending 83 hours in the box, Mackle was rescued and both kidnappers were arrested.
· In 1969, Phil and his team arrested Robert De Pugh in Truth or Consequences, N.M., after a massive manhunt. De Pugh was on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List, and was wanted for bank robbery, weapons violations and a was member of the notorious radical group, “The Weathermen”.
· In 1972 Phil was one of the lead agents in the investigation of Arthur Bremer, after Bremer’s attempted assassination of presidential candidate Alabama Governor- George Wallace.
· The discovery and prosecution of individuals in the Florida Power Corporation “daisy chain” oil pricing scandal. Florida Power Corp. refunded almost $8.5 million to its customers for overcharges caused by an oil price-hiking scheme during 1973 and 1974.
· In 1975 Phil also worked the New York kidnapping and rescue of Samuel Bronfman II (Seagram Distillery heir). Two of his abductors were arrested. The FBI recovered the $2.3 million ransom, that had been delivered some 24 hours earlier in a nightmarish post-midnight rendezvous with a masked kidnaper. Bronfman was found alive and well.
· In 1980 Phil’ teams arrested Joseph Paul Franklin in Lakeland, FL. Franklin was a serial murderer and racist responsible for shootings and murders of numerous individuals across the United States to include Vernon Jordon, leader of the NAACP.
· In Mobile, Alabama, Phil was involved in a hostage situation and after lengthy negotiations the hostage’s life was spared.
· In Alabama, Phil was in a shootout with a Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive and his accomplices as they attempted to run a FBI roadblock while shooting at the officers and agents.
· He was responsible for the break-up and prosecution of an extremely large interstate stolen motor vehicle ring based in Orlando.
Over the years, Phil has worked and supervised the investigation of almost every imaginable crime and locked up countless criminals.
But in Phil’s own words the most rewarding aspects of his career, “Instructing two new agents classes at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia” and “Mentoring younger agents and watching them develop and prosper in their careers”
Phil recognized that retiring from the FBI was going to be a difficult decision, so in the days preceding this decision, in Phil’s typical manner, as I quote him again, “I stopped in church first to see that I do the right thing”.
Phil has been an active member and volunteer for many years at St. Lawrence Catholic Church working with his good friend, Monsignor Higgins.
Since his retirement in 1980, Phil has worked for George Steinbrenner as the Executive Vice President of the New York Yankees and Board Member of the Gold Shield Foundation.
Phil is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute, a member of the Suncoast Chapter of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI and has served as Chairman of the State of Florida Governor’s Crime Commission.
As remembered by Phil’s Daughter Laura
New Year’s Eve, 1971
“Between 1970-1972, Dad was serving as Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Tampa FBI office. On New Year’s Eve, 1971, I was returning home from a date with my high school boyfriend at the same time that my dad was returning home. I was a typical high school girl, oblivious to parental plans, and Dad was a typical FBI G-man, tight-lipped about Bureau affairs.
As we both walked in the front door at the same time, Dad informed me that the pistol he was holding had been pointed at him hours before. The FBI had staked out a hotel in Odessa, FL where suspected “cop-killers”, linked to the Black Panther party, were hiding. Dad was in pursuit, turning the hotel corner, and stared into the barrel of a pistol held by one of the panicked fugitives. The bullet whistled by Dad’s ear. Thankfully, another FBI agent, wielding a shotgun, shot and killed the shooter.
That evening was a turning point for me in appreciating my father and what he believed in. Ensuring the safety and well-being of his family and community was his life’s commitment, all because he worked so closely with other Law Enforcement Agencies.
Phil’s motto is “Performance not Excuses”, just ask any of the children/grandchildren! “
Thank you Phil for your lifetime of public service and your continued support to this community.
COMMENTS:
(I have known Phil for over 20 years. He played basketball with the Sunday morning group in Carrollwood, Tampa, Fl. He was already "old" in his 60's when he played with us. But he was TOUGH as nails. You did not want to get "picked" by him, because you would feel it ALL week afterwards. But he also had a king heart, and when all the big guys were finished playing ball, Phil would play one on one with my 10 year old son Brandon (now 24)...and 4 years later with my second son 10 year old Austin.
Phil and i had many talks over all those years. He never had a mean word to say about anyone, not even his enemies. He loved his country and his family even more. I will never forget this great man. I only wish i could be more like HIM !!)
Comment 2:((He is certainly deserving of the award and he is a man I always admired and looked up to. He would never ask one of his men to do something he would not do. That is called leadership and was always stressed in the Marine Corps. by Marty Boland, FBI retired served under Phil and also played bball with us on Sunday mornings.))
