By Dina Arevalo, Staff writer
The city of Mercedes has named Dagoberto Chavez as its new police chief.
Chavez, who began his tenure at the city as an assistant city manager, was named interim police chief last month after the retirement of former Chief Olga Maldonado and her top officer, Capt. Eduardo “Eddie” Treviño.
The city announced Chavez’s new appointment via an invitation to his swearing-in ceremony, which is slated for 4 p.m. Thursday at Mercedes City Hall, located at 400 S. Ohio Ave.
Chavez previously served as an investigator with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office and ran to serve as constable for Precinct 4.
His predecessor, Maldonado, retired June 18 amid a swirl of speculation that she had faced disciplinary action. Disciplinary records for both Maldonado and former Treviño have been requested.
Mercedes City Manager Sergio Zavala extolled Chavez’s law enforcement experience last month when news of Maldonado’s retirement went public.
“Mr. Chavez isn’t a rookie, either. Mr. Chavez is a well-qualified law enforcement officer himself,” Zavala said. “He knows what to do.”
Prior to Maldonado’s retirement, Zavala had instructed Chavez to begin examining the city’s public safety departments to see where improvements could be made.
“His expertise is law enforcement. That’s one of the reasons why I hired him because that’s his expertise, to see if there’s anything there to improve,” Zavala said.
Along with that examination, Chavez was charged with reviewing police department policies, Zavala said.
