After 36 years in law enforcement with the last 12 leading a city department in northwest Indian River County, Keith Touchberry retired as chief of police in Fellsmere.
The announcement was made July 18 in an afternoon social media post on the department’s Facebook account largely used to announce public safety matters like wildfire or interstate crashes involving the Fellsmere Police Department.
The announcement included an outline of Touchberry’s time as a public servant at the department in a town with a mostly Hispanic or Latino population of just under 5,000, according to most recent available U.S. Census figures.
“(Chief Touchberry) has guided our department with vision and strength. Under his leadership, we’ve grown as a team and deepened our commitment to the citizens we serve. His passion for public safety, his calm presence in times of crisis, and his belief in building bridges between law enforcement and the community have made a lasting impact,” city officials stated in the post.
Touchberry on July 21 said via text he would not be available for comment until July 29 when he returns from a vacation. A city official could not immediately be reached for comment.
Prior to his time as Fellsmere police chief, Touchberry spent 25 years at the Vero Beach Police Department.
He campaigned twice to be elected sheriff of Indian River County in 2020 and 2024.
Touchberry also was the 2022-2023 president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association “one of the largest state police chiefs associations in the United States,” according to its website.
Before his law enforcement career, he spent time in the Army Reserve and in the Marine Corps Infantry.
More recently, Touchberry was a law enforcement education instructor and sat on an administrative training council at Indian River State College.
Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Keith Touchberry retires as chief of Fellsmere Police Department
Reporting by Corey Arwood, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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