ROCKPORT, Texas — The new police chief in Rockport, Texas, is officially on the job and is already listing his priorities.
That list includes mending what has been described as a troubled relationship between the Rockport Police Deparment and the Aransas County District Attorney's Office.
Greg Stevens has more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement. He comes from a military background and most recently served as the police chief in Lubbock, Texas.
Stevens spoke Thursday to a group of city leaders and officers as he outlined his goals, which includes getting to know the men and women at the Rockport Police Department.
"The community and the department has to get to know the chief, and vice versa," Stevens said. "It's incumbent upon me to come in and right off the bat earn the respect and trust of the police department, but also the community."
Before his arrival to the department, the City engaged in a community survey in which over 60-percent of people in Rockport said they feel mostly or generally safe.
"However there is a percentage that doesn't feel safe, so that means we have a lot of work to do," Stevens said.
Stevens said trust is a big thing to him, which is also why he will be focusing on building a better relationship with Aransas County District Attorney Kristen Barnebey.
"I'm confident her goal is my goal, which is to have a safe community for people to work and raise their family and put crooks in jail," Stevens said. "That is what her mission is, my mission is. If we can have that one common goal these issues won't be something we have to face much longer."
It was back in 2017 when the D.A.'s office stopped accepting any new cases from the Rockport Police Department, claiming the chief at the time was withholding evidence.
"The friction was that the Rockport Police Department wasn't able to follow the law," Barnebey said. "It's a small department. The law had changed and that is what needed to happen. I'm confident with the new chief that that will happen."
Stevens said he has met with the D.A. once and has plans to sit down and talk again in the next week.
"My first question is to go in and say, 'What can we be doing better to meet your needs?'" Stevens said. "At the end of the day she is the prosecutor in Aransas County, but she has to have certain things from us in order to do that."
Barnebey went on to say she has full confidence in the new chief and his abilities.
The D.A.'s office is taking cases again from Rockport police. They started back in May.