HIALEAH – The City of Hialeah has a new top cop. Acting Chief George Fuente was named Police Chief of the county’s second most populous city on Monday morning.

Fuente, husband of former Hialeah City Council member Katharine Cue-Fuente, has been interim chief since November.

New Hialeah Police Chief George Fuente (CBS4)

Fuente has been an officer at the Hialeah Police Department for 25 years and says he’s eager and excited to take on the role of police chief.

“I want an agency that is professional, transparent, accountable. Accountable from me on down,” said Fuente. “We want an agency that engages with our community on a daily basis. I want our officers out there in the parks, in the neighborhoods, interacting with our children, with our elderly.”

Fuente has been an officer since he was 19 years old and says his experience will help guide him in this role.

New Hialeah Police Chief George Fuente with Mayor Esteban Bovo (CBS4)

Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo named Fuente to leave the force of 400 officers and civilian personnel.

“We had said from day one that we wanted to establish a process that would be pure. I didn’t put my finger on the scale. I wanted the committee to examine all of the applicants. We are blessed to live in a city that supports law enforcement and we saw it from the amount of people who submitted their applications,” said Mayor Bovo.

Bovo added they had more than 30 very well qualified candidates, but he knew George Fuente was the right pick.

“We’re going to have a proactive department that’s looking at what is best for our citizens,” said Fuente.

The formal pinning ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Friday, April 1.