EDINBURG — A few dozen people gathered inside the Region One Education Service Center here Monday evening to listen to mental health experts and first responders share details about public safety.
The Public Safety Conference featured a series of panels moderated by Veronica Gonzales, UTRGV senior vice president for governmental and community relations.
The first panel included Tropical Texas Behavioral Health CEO Terry Crocker, UTRGV School of Medicine Department of Psychology interim Chair Diana Chapa, Edinburg Police Mental Health Officer Maurice Alleyne and Edinburg CISD Student and Social Services Coordinator Sofia Hinojosa.
They all shared details about their experiences with mental health and the services their organizations provide.
The second and third panels included Edinburg Police Chief Jaime Ayala, UTRGV Police Chief Adan Cruz and Edinburg CISD Police Chief Ricardo Perez, who discussed their departments’ plans for campus safety and public safety.
“We’ve come together with the school district, Texas Tropical, our mental health partners to just engage each other with the public and the community so that our community is assured that we are working together, that we know who each other is and that we’re collaborating and ensuring that local police, the school district police, the university police are all on the same page,” Ayala said.
Edinburg Councilman David White, a former police chief in Edinburg, said the conference was meant to inform the community about the readiness of local entities should an emergency situation present itself.
“The city of Edinburg is one entity, and within it we’ve got our school district and we have a university. We’re lucky to have the university,” White said. “The preparedness of any type of emergency that happens is more complex than what you’re seeing here today, especially back when I was chief. Events like this let the community know and feel comfortable that we’re ready and we’re prepared. We’re all communicating together.”
The conference, which lasted almost exactly two hours, was attended by many members of the general public and surrounding communities, including former Mission Mayor Armando O’Caña who expressed interest in the conference and encouraged the city to continue hosting more public safety conferences in the future.
“I’m hoping they continue the dialogue,” O’Caña said. “I was very satisfied. It also showed that the community is working together, especially with UTRGV being in the middle of it. The only thing that would have been missing is that they could have invited (South Texas College) also. If there’s room to grow, that’s an area to grow. You have to expand beyond your usual resources. I was glad to see the fire department there also.”
