Isle of Palms Winter-Spring 2018-19

20 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com As the Isle of Palms animal control officer, Chris Enourato deals with an array of creatures, wild and domesticated, large and small. Photo by Brian Sherman. B y the time he retired from his lengthy law- enforcement career, Chris Enourato had served for more than two decades with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and another 19 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a section chief with the FBI, he managed the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia, supervising 400 employees and overseeing a billion-dollar budget. These days, he pretty much supervises himself. As the Isle of Palms animal control officer, he deals with the array of creatures, wild and domesticated, large and small, alive and sometimes not, that share the barrier island with its residents, visitors and vacationers. Since he took the job in October 2014, he’s learned a lot about dogs, feral cats, coyotes, raccoons, snakes and even bobcats and alligators. “The job is a lot about education,” said Enourato, who grew up in the Trenton, New Jersey area. “Some people think it’s still the 1950s, when they could let their animals out unsupervised. We tell them not to let their pets out.” And, oh yes, he also is responsible for repairing and replacing the city’s signs, maintaining its low-speed vehicles, servicing the Front Beach parking kiosks and making sure the pooper-scooper stations are well- stocked. He and Beach Services Officer Larry Hyleman even installed and stained the new cabinets in the Police Department squad room. Enourato, now 64, got his feet wet with the FBI as a fingerprint technician in 1973 before moving on to the District of Columbia Police Department. During that time, he graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and taught there as well. He was hired by the FBI as a training specialist in 1995 and later served as a security officer and finally as a section chief. He was interviewed for the position by Robert Mueller, then the FBI director and now the Justice Department’s special counsel looking into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. elections. Three months after retiring from the FBI, and now living in the Lowcountry, Enourato was ready to return to the workforce. A Second Career IOP’s Animal Control Officer By Brian Sherman