HARLINGEN — The city is launching a national search to replace Police Chief Jeffry Adickes, who is retiring after four years on the job.
City Manager Dan Serna expects to appoint an interim chief after Adickes leaves office later this month.
Monday night, Adickes, who was hired in December 2014, announced his retirement.
Serna said he will launch an “extensive” search for the city’s new police chief.
“We are going to do a nationwide search and begin the process of evaluating applicants, going through an extensive process of interviewing applicants and selecting a new chief,” Serna said yesterday.
Serna said he had no timeline for the selection process.
Adickes helped bring stability to the police department, replacing former Assistant Chief Stephen Mayer, who served as interim chief for nearly a year.
“He’s done a tremendous job running the police department and creating a safe community,” Serna said. “He will be missed.”
Adickes, who had served as assistant chief of the Austin Police Department, worked to bring so-called community policing to the city, training officers to better interact with citizens.
“He’s done a great job for our community,” Serna said. “He’s been a tremendous asset for the city and the citizens.”
Serna said Adickes worked to better equip the police department, adding patrol cars to the fleet and better training officers.
“He’s promoted and done a good job with real-time policing,” Serna said. “That has been a great benefit for the community.”
Adickes worked to connect with the community, launching fundraisers such as Run with the Heroes and Shop with a Cop.
“He’s been out in the community,” Serna said. “That really resonates with the city.”
In December 2014, city commissioners hired Adickes at a salary of about $120,000 after a nearly one-year search for a police chief.
At the time, Adickes, an Austin native, served as chief of security of the Austin Convention Center.
During his 35-year career in law enforcement, Adickes had climbed the ranks at the Austin Police Department, where he retired as assistant chief of the department’s South Bureau in 2010.
