The city of Edinburg’s search for a new police chief has officially kicked off.

City spokeswoman Ashly Custer said the city has contracted with Strategic Government Resources to find candidates to fill the position.

The Texas-based firm has experience in finding police chief candidates, Custer said, citing the firm’s work with the cities of Waco, Mesquite and Del Rio.

Custer said the job description will be posted on June 15 and the city will accept applications for the position for 30 days.

Postings on the firm’s website advertising a wide variety of executive government jobs, including for chief of police jobs in the cities of Mesquite and Del Rio, include sleek-looking brochures where potential candidates are able to learn about those municipalities, from amenities to population to culture.

Those brochures also include information about city structure while introducing potential candidates to job responsibilities, expectations and salary and benefits.

The position opened up after the city fired former police Chief Cesar Torres on May 21 following the expiration of a temporary restraining order he obtained from a state district judge two weeks prior to his termination.

Torres, who officially started at the department on Jan. 7, 2019, had been on administrative leave since April 12 following a neutral arbitrator’s April 7 ruling that he discriminated against two police officers for union membership and activity.

The process to hire Torres also included an approximately 30-day window for applications for chief, of which the city received approximately 20.

That window ran between Nov. 15 and Dec. 13.

Torres received a conditional offer of employment on Dec. 11 and submitted his application the next day.

The former chief has two lawsuits open against the city, one which is alleging retaliation for reporting alleged criminal activity and another alleging retaliation for not supporting a political candidate, who is a former chief and sitting city council member.


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