A former professional baseball pitcher, a U.S. Coast Guard officer, U.S. Army veteran and the daughter of a pair of retired Sarasota police captains are among the most recent class of newly sworn officers of the Sarasota Police Department.
During the March 27 swearing-in and badge-pinning ceremony, Chief Rex Troche and Capt. Rob Armstrong introduced the six new officers following the nearly yearlong process that includes a five-month criminal justice academy program and 13-week intensive agency-specific training.
“I’d like to take this time to thank all the families for coming here today and raising such great individuals,” Troche said. “We're very lucky to be bringing them into our SPD family.”
The new officers will now spend several weeks on patrol with a field training officer. They are:
- Officer Eric Coley, a 2021 graduate of Syracuse University, where he played defensive back for the Atlantic Coast Conference football program. His goal is to become a SWAT team member and part of the Marine Patrol Unit.
- Officer Jason Creasy, who spent 13 seasons in Major League Baseball farm systems including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves as a right-handed pitcher. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ashford University.
- Officer Drew Ferguson, a Sarasota native who earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at University of Central Florida. From 2018 to 2025, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a boarding officer. His law enforcement goal is to become a detective.
- Officer Noah Green, who served in the U.S. Army from 2017 to 2021 as a cavalry scout. From 2022 to 2025, he was a patrol deputy for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. His goal is to become a field training officer and a member of the SWAT team.
- Officer Olivia Ledwith, a Sarasota native whose parents, Patrick Ledwith and Corey Stanish are both retired SPD captains, Stanish the first female captain in the agency’s history. She earned her bachelor’s degree in science with a major in finance at University of South Florida, grew up admiring her law enforcement parents and would like to become a member of the Criminal Investigations Division.
- Officer Benjamin Newman whose wife, Angie Roberts, is a crime analyst at SPD. His father, David Newman, is a retired deputy in Ohio. Newman began his law enforcement career in Granville, Ohio, in 2011 and in 2020 was promoted to sergeant at the Clinton Township Police Department. His professional interests include training, leadership development and advancements in law enforcement technologies.
