Rookies Get Carded

by Kevin Fritz

Move over, baseball. In Oviedo, there’s a new collectible trading card in town.

Since January, school-age children and their parents have been traveling to pop-up events around the city to collect trading cards showcasing the city’s rookie police officers.

“It has been a great interaction between officers and children, and it’s a cool item to collect,” says Lieutenant Adam Egert, public information officer for the Oviedo Police Department. 

Sixteen cards were produced, featuring the photo, name, bio, and personal motto of officers who have joined the force within the last few years. 

Two of those officers are a brother and sister – Timothy Jernigan and Shaniya Jernigan. From the cards, kids learned that he likes collecting sneakers and she enjoys fishing. The Jernigan siblings joined the Oviedo force in 2024 and were sworn in less than two months apart. Shaniya was named Oviedo’s Rookie of the Year for 2025.

The pop-ups, which were posted on the department’s Facebook page, were held at local businesses, city events, and parks during after-school hours and on weekends – giving officers the best opportunities to connect with kids and their parents. Two important goals of the program were for children to meet police officers in a relaxed environment and learn about the people who serve them.

What’s Old Is New Again

This was not the first time Oviedo has initiated a police trading card program. The city did so in 2007-2008 under Mayor Mary Lou Andrews and again in the 2010s when Mayor Dominic Persampiere led Oviedo.

Current Mayor Megan Sladek has some of those vintage officer trading cards in her possession. 

“It’s interesting to look back at the older cards and see who is still around,” she says. “Many of them are because we have great longevity in the city.”

Megan’s son was one of the many kids who were eager to get their hands on the cards.

“He thinks they are so cool,” she says. “This is such a good way for kids to meet the officers.”

The department’s younger members were the catalyst for the program’s resurgence, according to Lt. Egert. Officer Julissa Vargas Medina, Oviedo Police Department’s Rookie of the Year for 2023, took the lead to ensure the cards made a comeback.

“It’s just a great community involvement effort,” says Officer Medina, who joined the force in 2022. “The kids loved it. We had one boy who showed up every week. He even had them in a binder.”

The last of the cards were set to be distributed in early May, but Lt. Egert says it won’t be the last time the community will see officers’ smiling faces on trading cards. 

“We wanted positive interaction, and we got that,” he says. “Eventually, we will do this again. Maybe even next year.”