Hubert Donovan Burey was a student at Sam Houston State University two years ago when he learned that the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department was looking for new officers.

Hubert Donovan Burey

"I was in between classes one day and I jumped on the Internet," Burey said. "There was an ad by the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department saying that they were hiring."

Burey, 23, downloaded the application, filled it out and sent it in. Three months later, he received a letter from city police officials stating that if he came to Ft. Lauderdale and passed all the tests ­ the mental, the physical, the evaluation ­ then the department would send him to the police academy and upon completion hire him as an officer.

Burey decided that was an offer too good to turn down. In January, 1998 he made the trip to Ft. Lauderdale, passed all required tests, successfully completed the police academy and was hired by the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, where he toiled for more than a year. And, he may still be patrolling the streets of that Broward County city, but for a family tragedy back in Texas.

"My father suffered a severe stroke," said Burey. "He's the breadwinner back home, so I had to go back and take care of things while he was ill."

Burey was gone for two months and when he returned, Ft. Lauderdale advised that he was welcome back, but he would have to go through re-hire because he was absent for so long. Burey thought that was fine, but decided to first look around and see what else was available in the market.

He put in a call to Pinecrest police officer Travis Cooper, whom he had gone through the Police Academy with two years earlier. Cooper gave the Pinecrest Department an excellent review and suggested that Burey would do well to become an officer there. That was good enough for Burey. He applied for a position, went through all of the interviews and tests once again, was hired and pinned on his Pinecrest badge in May.

"I've only been here a month and I've been treated great by the staff," he said. "You see the chief every day and he shakes your hand and asks how you're doing. It's like a family here, everyone knows each other. And, Pinecrest is a great community; it's a quiet community, a lot quieter than Ft. Lauderdale. But, I have no problems whatsoever."

Burey, a bachelor, was born in Managua, Nicaragua and came to the United States with his parents in 1981 when he was little more than a year old. The family lived briefly in Miami, before moving to Houston. Burey grew up there, graduating Hastings High School in 1996 and then went to Texas A&M Corpus Christi for two years, where he studied criminal justice. He transferred to Sam Houston State University for his junior year and that was when he ran across the Internet ad by the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department.

"I've always wanted to be a police officer," said Burey. "My best friend has been a lieutenant for about 25 years with the sheriff's department in Houston and he used to take us out on patrol with him once in awhile. So, I got to see what it was all about and I loved it; it was what I wanted to do."

Burey says he wants to return to school at Florida International University and finish his last year of college to gain his bachelor's degree.

"Then, I'd like to move up in the ranks," he said, "become a sergeant, then a lieutenant; maybe one day even chief, you never know."

A more immediate consideration though is finding suitable living quarters closer to his employment, as he still calls Broward County home and commutes to work each day.

"The drive is just crazy, with the traffic the way it is here in South Florida," he said. "It takes me about an hour and a half to get here because I don't want to be in a rush and I want to make it to briefing on time. I prefer to get here 30 minutes early, sit down, get everything organized and on out to the road."