When Gloucester native Robin Hogge first joined the Gloucester Sheriff’s Office in early 1982, little did he know that he would be the longest-tenured member of the department in 2018.

Over the past 36 years, Hogge has risen through the ranks, giving the credit of his day-to-day success to his strong Christian faith.

Hogge said he had always aspired to go into law enforcement. As a graduating senior from Gloucester High School, he tried to get into the department, but at that time, it had fewer than half a dozen deputies, so he worked a brief stint with Newport News Shipbuilding. The Gloucester department now has around 100 deputies.

In 1982, a position came open under then-sheriff Ruben Emerson. He served as a sheriff’s deputy until a position opened in the jail in 1997. “George Larrimore was retiring, so I applied and got promoted to lieutenant,” he said.

About 10 years later, he made Captain and currently oversees two lieutenants in the corrections/civil ...