Tampa City Council confirms Lee Bercaw as police chief in unanimous vote

After all seven members of Tampa’s City Council heaped praise on interim Chief Lee Bercaw ahead of a vote on whether to allow him to keep the job, chairperson Guido Maniscalco lobbed a tongue-in-cheek question at him.“Alright, so you still want it?” Maniscalco asked, drawing laughs from the packed council chambers.“It’s not often you get council to agree on everything together, so I’m humbled,” a smiling Bercaw said as he stood at the lectern.Moments later, the council voted unanimously to remove the “interim” from Bercaw’s title.Council members said they agreed with Mayor Jane Castor that Bercaw, a 27-year veteran of the department, has shown that he was up to the job he’d held since December. Bercaw, they said, has brought stability to the department, has the clear backing of the rank-and-file officers and has proven to be responsive to the community and council members.“You provide stability, you provide reasonableness and a great temperament, which is so important, and you provide great leadership, especially at a time when our police department has had so many challenges over the last several years,” council member Luis Viera said.The simpatico vote marks a new chapter for a department that has seen three chiefs in
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