STUART, Fla. — The city of Stuart has officially named Flamur Zenelovic as its new chief of police. Zenelovic, a familiar face to the department, brings a mix of small-town knowledge and big-city experience to the role.
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“Given the opportunity to step into this role was very humbling for me. I started my career here as a police officer,” said Zenelovic, who first joined the Stuart Police Department in 1995. He worked here for 8 years before spending two decades with the Rochester Police Department in New York, his hometown. He returned to Stuart PD in 2023.
During his time in Rochester, Zenelovic was involved in a violent encounter where he was shot twice in a gunfight. He said that experience, along with others throughout his law enforcement career, informs his approach to leading the department.
“I’ve had great influences, great opportunities to work in policing and to bring some of that—both the small town and larger sized city policing—to the Stuart Police Department,” he said.
Now promoted from captain to chief, Zenelovic outlined his priorities, with traffic safety and public concerns at the top of the list. Local residents expressed their hopes for improvements in areas such as speeding and roadway safety.
“Maybe try to do some speed checks out there because we have young kids out there,” said Stuart resident Luke Hudson.
“Public safety, especially with the Brightline coming through—I worry about people on the tracks and getting stuck there,” said resident Marcia Ennis, adding, “people need to be educated.”
Zenelovic said making the roads safer, from crashes to speeding, is a top priority as he settles into the new role.
“Crime suppression and crime prevention is always going to be a focus of the police department,” he said. “Big issues for us are the constant traffic complaints and the safety of the motorists on the roadways.”
It’s the beginning of what he hopes to be a long tenure protecting the small town he calls a second home.
