Photo courtesy City of Sarasota: Police Chief Tex Troche was sworn in on Friday.

Rex Troche will lead the Sarasota Police Department as its first Hispanic Chief of Police.

“I am honored and humbled to lead the dedicated men and women of the Sarasota Police Department,” Troche said. “I will continue to promote our community policing initiatives, focus on reducing gun violence and increase the visibility of our officers in the city.  I’m excited to move our agency forward by hiring the best and brightest officers who will reflect our community. I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to build trust, transparency, and lasting relationships with the citizens of the City of Sarasota.”

Troche, who led the department in an interim capacity since August, was sworn in as the 13th Sarasota Police chief in a ceremony on Friday. The promotion comes after 20 years on the squad.

City Manager Marlon Brown said in choosing a new chief, he decided to “flip the script,” and instead of having a search firm recruit finalists to parade in the city, surveyed citizens on what qualities they wanted in a chief. Hiring internally was a priority for the community, he said.

“They (the community) wanted someone who was going to involve the community in the police department, someone who has really good communication skills and someone who really exemplified what Sarasota was all about,” Brown said at the swearing in ceremony. “Based on that, I had to look no further than what we already had.”

Troche succeeded Police Chief James Rieser, who left because of health reasons less than a year after taking the reins after Bernadette DiPino resigned.

Mayor Erik Arroyo welcomed Troche’s promotion in a newsletter to residents. “His impressive record of leadership, professionalism and community involvement are a great asset to the SPD and community and we are blessed to have a servant of this caliber,” Arroyo wrote.

At the swearing in, Troche stressed the work of rank officers on. The force. “I do it on your shoulders,” Troche said. He plans to continue working with organizations like the NAACP to develop strong relationships within the community. He also said he would rely heavily on talent within the department and those who came before him in uniform

“There are legacy members here, better leaders over the course of their years, better people and they didn’t get to this level of chief, and I’m not going to forget that. I lean on you all in here. Everybody.”

Troche holds a master’s degree in emergency management from St. Leo Univeristy and graduated from the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police. He’s a member of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Hispanic American Police Commanders Officers Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, NAACP, and the Police Executive Research Forum.

Photo courtesy City of Sarasota: Police Chief Tex Troche was sworn in on Friday.