City of Sarasota names new police chief
Sarasota Police Chief James Rieser (Provided by: Sarasota Police Department)
SARASOTA, Fla. - On the heels of former Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino’s resignation, the city has announced her replacement.
On Friday morning, Captain James Rieser was named the new chief, who has grown up in Sarasota and started working for the agency in 1992.
DiPino submitted her resignation Wednesday. No official reason was provided for DiPino’s sudden exit, but the city manager recently had to counsel her after an anonymous complaint from someone within the department over an insensitive remark made about a man with a history of mental illness.
According to the complaint, the chief asked if she could borrow someone’s taser after the man yelled obscenities about SPD. It happened during a Sarasota Opera performance at the department back in November. However, it is not clear if this incident played a role in DiPino’s decision to leave the force.
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She served eight years as the police chief, is a fourth-generation law enforcement officer, with 35 years of service.
Rieser will officially begin his new position on Friday evening.