By John Davis
Sarasota Herald Tribune
NORTH PORT, Fla. — Kevin Vespia, a 39-year-old former road patrol officer who worked his way up the ranks of the North Port Police Department, is now the city’s top law enforcement officer.
Promoted in a ceremony this week, Vespia is the first North Port chief who came up entirely through the department. His promotion has been a morale boost in a city without a permanent city manager. The internal move paved the way for three others to be promoted, including Sgt. Chris Morales, Capt. Lee Liermann and Lt. Tom Stella.
“The best way is to promote from within; it causes upward mobility within the agency,” said Terry Lewis, interim city manager and former NPPD chief.
Vespia, a 12-year veteran of NPPD, comes to the chief role without knowing who his new boss will be, since North Port is currently looking for a permanent city manager. With the promotion, Vespia trades job security for a chance to live a dream the Rhode Island native has had since he was 12.
“I put a lot of thought into taking this job,” he said Wednesday. “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve got a lot to lose.”
In North Port, the city manager can hire and fire the police chief. Lewis tapped Vespia to fill the chief role temporarily in October when the city asked Lewis to step in as city manager. Lewis offered Vespia the job permanently, wary of leaving the department adrift without a city manager or police chief when Lewis retires in April.
Vespia’s acumen for technology drove his rise in the 100-officer department. He played a key role in improving NPPD’s communication systems and computer upgrades in recent years.
“I was the one, I’ll take any job you give me,” he said. He has worked on projects ranging from adding digital video cameras to patrol cars to to setting up the communications network when NPPD moved into a new building.
Before coming to North Port, Vespia spent three years with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and three years in the Army as a military police officer.
Vespia is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree part-time at Andrew Jackson University, at a rate of one or two classes a semester. He plans to finish his undergraduate courses in the next 18 months and then pursue a master’s degree.
His wife, Kim, is a Sarasota Police Department officer.
Law enforcement officials from across the region attended the promotion ceremony in North Port on Wednesday.
“I’m fortunate enough to have taken over an organization that has a plethora of talent,” Vespia said.
Copyright 2011 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Co.