GREECE, N.Y. — Mike Wood is the new chief of police in the town of Greece. He says he must restore public trust in his department and shared how he plans to do that.

Wood said he is excited to be back in Greece.

“I lived in this community, I have a lot of roots in this community over the years, with family," he said. "So I know the community reasonably well, though I haven’t lived here for quite some time.”

Wood is a 25-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department and previously served as deputy commissioner of the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services Office of Public Safety.

“Police accountability, police training, crime analysis centers statewide and grant funding on gun violence reduction, highway safety training," said Wood. "It was a pretty big operation.”

He’s taking over after the last chief, Drew Forsythe, resigned. Forsythe pleaded guilty to a DWI after crashing his police-issued vehicle last October.

Wood said regardless of the controversy, he has a lot to prove as the new chief.

“Trust has to be built," he said. "You earn trust through your actions and actions speak louder than words. So I just have to come in and do what I do, and build that trust.”

He considers himself a collaborator.

“Don’t make quick change, make some assessments, but when you talk about style, it’s to collaborate," Wood said. "You need to involve people, everyone needs to have a voice. The folks that work here have their lives invested.”

And while he doesn’t have any immediate plans for the department, he said he wants to examine everything, like policies surrounding the lack of body-worn cameras.

“My style is continuous improvement, every place I go," Wood said. "I’m going to look at the place top to bottom.”

He just hopes that when it comes to looking ahead, he’s able to leave Greece Police Department better than he found it.”

“You have to evolve with the times," he said. "If you don’t, and we see this with the business world and everywhere else, you’re ripe for failure. So I think we need to evolve and we need to continue pressing forward and build this place for the future.”

Wood is the fifth chief to serve Greece since 2010.