[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 159 (Friday, October 25, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE CAREER OF CHIEF MARIO KRSTIC

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 25, 2024

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of Chief 
Mario Krstic for 37 years of fearless leadership and selfless service.
  Despite being in law enforcement Mario Krstic's professional career 
actually began as an EMT with American Ambulance of Visalia. However, 
after losing a patient following a double homicide, Mario decided he 
wanted to take a more proactive approach to prevent others from 
experiencing the same. By 1986, Mr. Krstic was hired by the Tulare 
County Sheriff's Department as a correction deputy.
  It wasn't until 1997 that Mario made his transition to Farmersville 
when he took on a patrol position for the city. To his delight, a high 
turnover rate the following year left him as one of the most 
experienced officers in the force resulting in a promotion to 
Lieutenant, and another to Police Chief on July 17, 1999.
  When Chief Krstic first took the reins, Farmersville had a population 
of 6,500 and a police force that lacked stability. Without hesitation, 
Mario implemented his own community-oriented policing model with a 
focus on not only policing residents but serving them as well.
  He carried this out by recruiting officers who were bilingual and 
better able to communicate with the predominantly Hispanic communities 
and reassure the residents that the department works for them. He also 
took great pride in that half of his officers were directly from 
Farmersville which allowed him to stabilize the departments top-end 
turnover and expand the force from 12 full-time officers to 16. He was 
the epitome of public safety, as one of the first chiefs in Tulare 
County to be a proponent of body cams in an effort to better protect 
the public and his officers. Additionally, he was successful in 
convincing the city council to hire a fire chief and even helped them 
find funding for one which is just now being realized as the 
Farmersville City Council took its first steps towards building a new 
fire station just recently.
  Chief Mario Krstic consistently went above his call of duty as the 
Police Chief and even took on different positions to better serve the 
people of Farmersville. Throughout his 37 years in law enforcement and 
24 years as the Chief of Police for the City of Farmersville, Mario 
Krstic has managed Police, Fire, and Code Enforcement. He has also 
served as Interim City Manager of Farmersville for over three years, 
sat as the Region 11 chair on the Board of Directors of the California 
Police Chiefs Association for 9 years, and is a two-time past President 
of the Tulare County Chiefs Association. In addition to this, Chief 
Krstic has sat on the Advisory Board of the Tulare Kings Police Academy 
and was an instructor with the Academy for over 14 years. Chief Krstic 
is also an alumnus of the Sequoia Regional Leadership Program, IACP's 
Leadership in Police Organizations program, and holds a bachelor's 
degree in Administration of Justice from Chapman University.
  As the longest actively serving Chief of Police in the State of 
California, Chief Mario Krstic is invaluable to the City of 
Farmersville. He will enjoy his retirement in the company of his wife, 
Trish; their two children, Jacob and Amanda; and their two 
grandchildren, Gwen and Willow.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the devoted 
career of Police Chief Mario Krstic for his commitment to protecting 
and serving the community. May we be inspired by his story.

                          ____________________