Julian Gutierrez, a five year veteran of the La Joya police department, took over as police chief Tuesday night.
The decision came to appoint Gutierrez 7 months after the death of Chief Jose Del Angel.
Gutierrez told Action 4 he is ready for this new challenge and happy for the opportunity.
“This is my time to show what I’m capable of doing,” Gutierrez started. “We had a good chief and it’s sad the way things happened but I’m moving forward and trying to take this department to the next level.”
He said he has already started to apply for grants to get his officers the equipment they need to stay safe while out on patrol.
He said he would also like to hire more officers to help crack down on the illegal and human smuggling that passes through his city.
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