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La Joya ISD named a new interim police chief Friday.
A.C. Perez, a longtime veteran of the district’s police department, said he was advised he was being made interim at about 8 a.m. that morning.
The employment status of Chief Raul Gonzalez is unclear. Gonzalez, who’s led the department for 22 years, did not return requests for comment, nor did school spokesperson Blanca Cantu.
Perez said he’s not sure what’s going on with Gonzalez. He did say he was surprised to be made interim.
“To be honest with you, I was set to retire in June, on the 27th of June of this year,” he said. “I had already submitted all my paperwork to TRS and then this morning I was told about the position, and it’s like, ‘What? Really, OK.’”
The department, Perez said, needed someone to guide it and he felt obligated to, calling for continuation of services and campus safety priorities. Perez has, he noted, previously helmed the department in Gonzalez’s absence.
“So I’ve done this before, it’s just right now I don’t know when he’s coming back or what have you,” he said. “So I’m just gonna make sure that everything runs smoothly until that time.”
Perez has a law enforcement career stretching back to about 1989. He served with Mission police and McAllen ISD police before joining La Joya’s department some 22 years ago.
There he served as an investigator and a lieutenant before joining internal affairs, in which capacity he worked until Friday morning.
“So I want to make sure everything runs smooth, as smooth as possible with dealing with the safety of the students and the staff and all people that come to our schools,” Perez said.
