City places ad for police chief position

Nearly two months after Police Chief Carlos Garcia announced his retirement from the police department, the city of Brownsville will start advertising the chief of police position.

Officials said the city would begin accepting applications today.

The position will be advertised in the newspaper and with the Texas Municipal League and the Police Officers Association, said Oscar Salinas, head of the city’s Human Resources Department. It will also be advertised on the city of Brownsville website.

Applications will be taken until March 1, or for one month.

The position became vacant in December when Garcia retired to take a job with the Port of Brownsville as police chief and head of security there.

Garcia had worked for the Brownsville Police Department for more than 30 years. He started as a patrol officer and worked his way up the ranks. He was appointed police chief more than 10 years ago.

Commander Orlando Rodriguez has been serving as interim chief for more than a month as city officials worked on the job description for the chief position.

It states that the police chief will direct plan and manage all functions and operations of the police department in the enforcement of laws and city ordinances. In addition, the chief would be charged with directing the activities of the department’s major divisions such as patrol, communications, investigations, crime prevention, fiscal management and administration.

The applicant must have knowledge of civil service and collective bargaining procedures and be TCLEOSE-certified, officials said.

Although a bachelor’s degree in police science, law enforcement, criminal justice or public administration is included in the description, it states that in lieu of a bachelor’s degree at least 12 years of law experience in police work, with at least five years of supervisory experience at a level of lieutenant or higher, preferably in a municipality, would be accepted.

A successful completion of the FBI National Academy is also preferred, the job description states. The candidate must submit to a complete and extensive background check.

City Manager Charlie Cabler has said he expects the selection of a new police chief to take from three to six months.

He said it is possible that the next police chief may be selected by a committee made up of other police chiefs, city leaders and other members of the community, Cabler said in a previous interview.