Richard Norfleet Harris III

Richard Norfleet Harris III -- known as “Bama” to all -- was born in Decatur, Ala., on Aug. 10, 1952, the son of Richard Norfleet Harris Jr and Nancy Lucille Tuggle. He passed away April 25, 2021 at his home in Dunedin, Florida at the age of 68.

He began his law enforcement career with the Clearwater Police Department on May 27, 1980. For nearly 37 years, he served the agency and the citizens of Clearwater as a hard-working, loyal and dedicated employee, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant.

In 1985, he was assigned to work undercover as a vice and narcotics detective. Five years later, he became a sergeant. In 1991, he became the supervisor of the vice and narcotics unit. In 1996, he returned to the patrol division and was a field training sergeant in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, he was named the CPR supervisor and three years later, became the traffic team supervisor. In 2013, he was promoted to lieutenant and served as the District III commander and the special operations commander.

He won multiple awards during his more than three decades of service with Clearwater – including the Chief’s Unit Citation in 1994, Award of Excellence in 1996 and the Chief’s Unit Citation again in 2003.

After he retired from Clearwater in 2017, he went to work for the St. Petersburg Police Department as the fleet and equipment manager. He was named that agency’s 2020 civilian employee of the year.

Throughout his nearly four decades of service in law enforcement in Pinellas County, the name “Bama” became widely known not just in Clearwater, but across the county.

He will always be remembered as a hard-working street cop, a cop’s cop. A man who loved motorcycles, and loved his family. He was old school; he would do things his way, the Bama way. He loved being seen as the tough guy, but underneath that tough-guy exterior was the heart of a teddy bear. He would give you the shirt off his back, or anything else you needed.

He was one of a kind, and he will be missed by all, especially his loving family.

Survivors include his wife, Kathi; sister, Madge Jarrett; daughters, Suzanne Hollin, Jennifer Chenoweth (Grant Chenoweth), and Samantha O’Boyle (Stephen O’Boyle); and granddaughters Kaysen, Avery, Selah, Aubrey and Anna.