During Chief Ruggiero’s 34 years in Law Enforcement, he has been extensively involved in and supervised accreditation, traffic safety, traffic homicide investigations, patrol, training, recruitment, communications, code enforcement, property/evidence room management, school resource officers, community policing, and public information & relations.

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He began his career with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in 1990 as a Corrections Deputy.

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In 1995 he joined the Port Richey Police Department, where he served as a Field Training Officer, a Traffic Homicide Reconstructionist, and Corporal. He had the privilege to supervise the communications section, property evidence room, training unit, traffic homicide unit, and patrol.

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In 2000, He began teaching for the Pasco Hernando State College at the Public Safety Academy, specializing in Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Security Guard classes. He was certified and taught all high liability topics, dart firing stun guns, crowd control, report writing, officer safety, and traffic, until his retirement from Pasco Hernando State College in 2024.

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He began his career with the Tarpon Springs Police Department in 2000 working as a patrol officer. During his career with Tarpon Springs, he was able to work in many different aspects of the agency and retired in April 2025 as the Assistant Chief of Police. During his career at Tarpon Springs Police Department, he worked in all aspects of the department and supervised or managed every unit of the department.

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In 2006 and 2019, he received officer of the year honors for his dedication to excellence.

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In 2010, the School Resource Officer unit, under his direct supervision, won the best new crime prevention program of the year, from the State of Florida, for the new crime watch program and training he supplied Tarpon Springs High School with.

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In 2012, as the Accreditation Manager, Tarpon Springs Police Department received their initial accreditation, then were reaccredited every three years since.

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He has been conducting assessments for the Commission of Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation since 2013 and was assigned as a Team Leader in 2016. He became a certified Accreditation Professional in 2017 and was recertified in 2020 and 2024. He was appointed as the Training committee chairman in 2017 and held that position until his promotion to Major in 2021. He served on the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement’s Standards Review and Interpretations Committee from 2018 to 2024. He still currently serves on the Florida Police Accreditation Coalition’s Training committee and Scholarship committee.

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In 2020 he was also named the Assessment Team Leader of the Year by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.

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In 2020 he began teaching for the Florida Public Safety Institute all over the State of Florida.

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On April 20, 2025, he retired from Tarpon Springs Police Department at the rank of Assistant Chief of Police.

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Chief Ruggiero was sworn in as the Police Chief for the City of Port Richey on April 21, 2025, with his commitment to excellence, innovation, and improving to make tomorrow a better day than yesterday, while working with our citizens to maintain a strong and healthy partnership.