Major Puts His Name In The Running For Pasco's Top Cop

Maj. Chris Nocco announced Thursday that he has applied to be Pasco's next sheriff.

“The biggest thing is the opportunity,” Nocco said to the press after spending some time in the morning at Leadership Pasco's youth leadership program.

"There was a kid at youth leadership today, and I apologize because I’m probably going to misquote him, but he said ‘Opportunity doesn’t miss people. People miss opportunity.' And I think for us in the sheriff’s office, it’s not about Chris Nocco. It's about the Pasco Sheriff's Office. It’s about us having the opportunity to excel from where we are to be a world-class law enforcement agency, and to grow and be a shining star for the people of Pasco.”  

Pasco County Sheriff Bob White announced March 16 that he is retiring from his job, Nocco joins two other candidates who have applied to finish out White's third term. Gov. Rick Scott will appoint the interim sheriff.

Nocco started at the sheriff’s office in March 2009, leaving a job as chief of staff at the Florida Highway Patrol headquarters in Tallahassee to become captain of administration in Pasco. When White recently, Nocco was placed in charge of the new Joint Operations Bureau, which oversees the Criminal Investigations Division and the Agency Support Division. 

Nocco decided to apply for the job of sheriff after speaking to his wife, Bridget, members of White's command staff and others. He said he completed his application on Tuesday night, with FedEx picking it up the next day. Gov. Scott's Office of Open Government said the state had received two applications as of early in the morning on March 24, and Nocco's was not one of them. However, the office had not finished looking over the morning mail.

Whoever is appointed to succeed White will serve until voters elect a new sheriff in the 2012 general election. Other candidates who have applied for White's job or have expressed interest in applying for interim sheriff are:

• Maj. Brian Head, Pasco's detention bureau commander, who has served in the position since 2001, filled out his application two days after White announced his resignation
• Roger Fortney, a retired Pasco deputy who has served under three sheriffs
• Mike “XX” Foxx, has filed to run in the general election and says he is in the process of completing the application for the appointment. He has 33 years experience as a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy.