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Port Richey's new police chief is a familiar face about town

 
Gerard DeCanio, 63, previously worked as a Port Richey officer, as well as for the NYPD.
Gerard DeCanio, 63, previously worked as a Port Richey officer, as well as for the NYPD.
Published Nov. 2, 2016

PORT RICHEY — Gerard DeCanio, Port Richey's third police chief in 2 1/2 years, is nearly a month into his new job and says he is quickly getting up to speed with the community he once served as a police officer.

DeCanio, 63, brings more than two decades of law enforcement experience to the city, dating to his career with the New York City Police Department, where he served from 1981 to 2001 and rose to the rank of detective. After coming to Florida, he served as a Port Richey officer from 2011 to 2013.

DeCanio said his mission is to focus on community policing, with officers routinely interacting with residents and businesses to combat drugs and work toward solutions to the city's homeless population. His officers will also be offered the opportunity to provide him with input on ways to make the department run smoothly, DeCanio said.

"I am privileged to have worked as a police officer for the city before, so people know me. I have an open-door policy with the community, and I have just been letting the police officers know they have my support and we have a job to do," he said.

During his career, DeCanio has also served as a volunteer firefighter and administrator for departments in New York and Pasco. It is his dual police and fire certifications that led him to apply for the chief's job in Port Richey, he said.

"It is pretty rare for someone to have both certifications, so when I heard they were looking at combining both the police and fire chief positions into one, I applied," DeCanio said.

The Port Richey City Council discussed combining the positions during budget discussions this year. The idea gained steam when the city was in the market for a new city manager and a police chief, after former Chief Rob Lovering announced his resignation in May.

In the end, the council left the police chief decision to the new city manager, Vince Lupo, who opted to keep both the fire and police chief spots and hire DeCanio.

"He has a deep knowledge of the city after serving as a police officer here, and I think it certainly gave him an advantage over someone coming in from the outside," Lupo said.

DeCanio takes over following years of turmoil surrounding the Police Department. In 2014, former Chief Dave Brown left amid a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into the department's vehicle impound lot. The investigation did not result in criminal charges against anyone, but uncovered a practice of the department selling impounded vehicles at auction to Port Richey police officers.

The result of the yearlong investigation led then-City Manager Tom O'Neill to call it a "tragic" administrative void within the department, which spurred the hiring of Lovering, a longtime Tampa police officer, who hired new administrators and punished several officers for their role in the scandal.

This year, uncertainty again surrounded the department as newly elected Mayor Dale Massad called for budget cuts and pointed to the Police Department as a place to look, which concerned Lovering to the point that he resigned. O'Neill also resigned after clashing with Massad.

The cloud of the FDLE investigation reappeared with the prospect of hiring DeCanio. In her opposition to hiring him, City Council member Nancy Britton pointed out that DeCanio had worked for a company involved in the scandal.

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FDLE agents eventually found that the company, Oldsmar-based Enforcement One, committed no wrongdoing in trading equipment, such as police vehicle lights and electronics, to the city for impounded vehicles.

DeCanio said he worked for Enforcement One as a salesman but never conducted business with Port Richey during his time at the company. Lupo said he had "zero concern" over DeCanio's past ties with the company.

DeCanio said trading cars for equipment is routinely done legally throughout the state and is a practice he plans to continue — including possibly with Enforcement One should it win a bid — but only after obtaining approval from the City Council.

He also vowed that impounded vehicles will never be sold to city employees.

"It's not going to happen again, I can tell you that," DeCanio said.