FORT PIERCE\u2013An internal candidate who has applied to become the next Fort Pierce police chief has picked up his third endorsement from an area law enforcement union.<\/p>\n
The Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association, of Daytona Beach, has issued a statement, calling Fort Pierce Acting Deputy Chief Caleb Gillette a \u201chighly effective leader who has a track record of building trust and fostering collaboration, both within the police department and with the community it serves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillette has spent his 24-year police career with the Fort Pierce department, moving up the ranks from patrol officer.<\/p>\n
Gillette, who is apparently one of 57 people who have applied for the local chief\u2019s job, has already garnered hiring endorsements from the Fort Pierce Police Officers Union and the local Sergeant and Lieutenants Union.<\/p>\n
In a press release, JJ Woolsey, CFPBA staff representative, said Gillette \u201cpossesses the integrity and moral character to inspire confidence\u2026and has a proven track record of selfless service.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe possesses a deep understanding of modern law enforcement challenges, including ever-changing technology, budgetary issues, community relations and addressing crime rates and trends, and he has the vision to lead the department effectively in addressing these issues,\u201d Woolsey said.<\/p>\n
Gillette joined the department as a patrol officer in 2001, and has spent his entire career with<\/p>\n
FPPD, including serving as a sergeant, lieutenant, SWAT commander and acting deputy chief.<\/p>\n
City Manager Richard Chess said Monday he will be setting up interviews with first-round finalists, but no names have been released. It\u2019s also unclear how much the endorsements by the three police unions may impact Chess\u2019 deliberations.<\/p>\n
Former Chief Diane Hobley-Burney resigned in May after department employees issued a statement of \u201clost confidence\u201d in her leadership. She had been chief here for 10 years.<\/p>\n
Interim Chief Robert Ridle did not apply, saying he will retire in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE\u2013An internal candidate who has applied to become the next Fort Pierce police chief has picked up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":{"0":"post-47139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news","11":"tag-st_lucie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}