Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry completes FBI training

Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry completes FBI training

Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry graduated from the FBI National Command Course in Virginia on May 19.

Chief Touchberry completed the training while also serving as the president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, the third largest chiefs association in the United States. He will remain in that FPCA position until August.

The FBI National Command Course was developed in 2020 to provide leadership training for police executives in departments with fewer than 50 sworn officers.

Participants must be the chief executive of a domestic law enforcement agency with fewer than 50 sworn personnel, and must be nominated to participate in the NCC.

The FBI Training Division solicits nominations annually. Chief Touchberry was nominated with 47 other police chiefs and sheriffs nationwide representing municipal, county, airport, university, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies.

According to the FBI, “the National Command Course was developed to fill a void in FBI strategic leadership training programs for policing executives. Law enforcement agencies with fewer than 50 sworn employees comprise over 80% of departments, yet leaders of these agencies often lack funding and/or manpower availability to send employees away for weeks at a time to attend nationally recognized executive leadership programs.”

Chief Touchberry announced last November that he was joining the 2024 race for Indian River County Sheriff. He began his law enforcement career in 1989, after serving six and a half years on active duty in the Marine Corps Infantry.

Chief Touchberry was hired by the Vero Beach Police Department in 1989. He left VBPD in 2013 to become the Chief of Police for the Fellsmere P.D.

Chief Touchberry has a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida. In July he will teach a 24-hour Criminal Justice Leader Ethics course to law enforcement officers at Indian River State College. He is also adjunct faculty at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, and is the primary Ethics Instructor for that institution’s online Baccalaureate Criminal Justice degree program.

Article posted on Hometown News

Fellsmere Chief Keith Touchberry to run for Sheriff

Fellsmere Chief Keith Touchberry to run for Sheriff

Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry is running for sheriff again.

Touchberry, 58, who filed the required paperwork with the Supervisor of Elections Office last week, was the runner-up to now-Sheriff Eric Flowers in the 2020 Republican primary.

Touchberry, though, sees himself as a stronger candidate now, having raised his stature beyond being a small-town police chief.  In fact, he was inducted as president of the 1,000-member Florida Police Chiefs Association in August.

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Keith Touchberry officially enters 2024 Indian River County Sheriff’s race

Keith Touchberry officially enters 2024 Indian River County Sheriff’s race

Last week, Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry officially entered the sheriff’s 2024 race in Indian River County.

Touchberry, 58, told Sebastian Daily that he’s running for the same reason he did in 2020, which is the need to improve the leadership and culture of the organization.

“Employees want fair, impartial, and consistent leadership, especially when it comes to promotions, transfers, and other tangible aspects of their careers. Many do not feel valued, morale is low, and turnover can be expected as a result,” said Touchberry. “The community’s trust in this organization is waning, and citizens want change. They do not like the headlines they are reading. I have consistently been encouraged to run as a result, and support for my candidacy is high.”

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Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry to lead Florida Police Chiefs Association

Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry to lead Florida Police Chiefs Association

Officer wellness, recruitment and retention are just three of the priorities Police Chief Keith Touchberry is setting for himself as he takes on the presidency of the Florida Police Chiefs Association.

Touchberry, 58, was sworn in as president by Fellsmere Mayor Joel Tyson the second week of August during the association’s 70th Summer Training Conference in Palm Beach Gardens.

Also continuing on the Florida Police Chief’s Association board overseeing District 6 for another year is Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey.

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