Dr. Major Roosevelt “Rocky” Ratliff III, is a retired decorated leader from the Tampa Police Department with over 30 years of distinguished service, will be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from West Coast Bible College & Seminary (WCBCS). Recognized as a visionary leader, he has made significant contributions throughout his career. The formal ceremony for this honor will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026, and will be available for both in-person and online attendance.
Dr. Phillip S. Porter, President of WCBCS, expressed his excitement: “Roosevelt Ratliff’s compassion, innovation, and a lifelong commitment to
public service, youth mentorship, civic collaboration, and urban crime prevention has truly left a permanent generational impact on his community”.
Major Roosevelt Rocky Ratliff III retired from the Tampa Police Department on August 17, 2018, after serving the community for thirty (30) years. During his career Major Ratliff served in all three Patrol Districts in the city and developed innovative plans and solutions to solve the ongoing quality of life challenges to reduce the overall crime in the communities.
Dr. Ratliff had a reputation for building strong community relationships throughout the City of Tampa. He served in many different capacities within the Tampa Police Department including being a Field Training Officer, a member of the Public Housing X-Ray Community Oriented Policing (COP) Squad, Community Policing Firehouse Supervisor, and Supervisor over the Crime Prevention Unit and the Commander over the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program.
To help make the community a safe place to live, work and play, Major Ratliff brought back the concept of Foot Patrol (Boots on the Ground) throughout the communities. He helped create the Community Oriented Policing Squads (COP) in all three districts. He helped resolve community complaints and disturbances in city parks by acting as the liaison to Parks and Recreation. Major Ratliff is also a certified Crime Prevention Practitioner. During his time as a Major in the roughest area of the city (District III); Major Ratliff led the department in crime reduction for twenty-five (25) consecutive months before retiring. He was the first in departmental history to accomplish this outstanding goal due to his philosophy on community policing.
Major Ratliff served as the Tampa Police Department’s liaison to the Mayor’s African American Advisory Council and held that position for 19 years. He is still involved in mentoring programs for the youth throughout the City of Tampa, within Hillsborough County Schools and the State of Florida.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Roosevelt R. Ratliff III on the well-deserved honor of receiving an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from West Coast Bible College & Seminary.
