Former Texas sheriff to head SLPD
SAN LUIS, Ariz. - City officials here have picked former Texas Sheriff Ricardo "Rick" Flores as the new police chief of San Luis.
They announced at a news conference Thursday that Flores, currently employed by the Webb County Adult Probation Department in Laredo, Texas, was the top choice of a city selection panel from among five finalists, three of whom came from Yuma County. The four other finalists were not identified by city officials.
While tentatively accepting the committee's recommendation to hire Flores, the city council must still approve a contract at a special meeting Thursday.
City Administrator Ralph Velez said Flores' starting salary is subject to negotiation with the city but would range from $75,000 to $1O1,000.
That compares with an annual salary of $100,824 paid to Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden and a salary range of $91,904 to $128,667 for a Yuma police chief.
"The thinking here (in the past) has been to not pay a lot, because the public is going to get angry," Velez said. "But they don't know what the position demands. You can compare salaries, but if you don't pay well, people are not going to come for a low salary. The quality of the people you hire depends on what you pay."
Flores, who was not present at Thursday's news conference, was sheriff of Webb County until losing his re-election bid in 2008, after which he joined the adult probation department for Webb County. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal science and a master's in arts and sociology, and is also a part-time teacher.
City Councilman Jose Suarez said Flores "will bring very positive changes" to a department that has operated without a permanent head for more than two years. "The credentials he offers, his resume are a guarantee of improvement of the department to a level to which we can take pride in our police."
Other factors that led to the committee's choice were Flores' performance in an interview and his prior experience as a law enforcement officer serving on the border, Suarez said.
"He has wide experience in border security and that is going to benefit us a lot. I believe he is going to elevate the level of professionalism and conduct of the police department."
The committee consisted of Suarez, Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla, San Luis Fire Chief Hank Green, Yuma County Sheriff's Maj. Leon Wilmot and Maria Chavoya, an employee of Campesinos Sin Fronteras who served as a community representative.
The hiring follows the city council's vote in December to re-establish the police chief position, which had been dissolved several years ago by the council in favor of creating the position of public safety director, responsible for overseeing both the police and fire departments.
That position had been vacant since Gilbert Lara's resignation in 2007. After Lara's resignation, Police Capt. Javier Nuno had overseen the police department on an acting basis.
