By Juan Montoya
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City of Brownsville Police Department Chief Orlando Rodriguez will presented his notice to retire Tuesday and his interim replacement will be chosen from among three candidates.
Rodriguez had hinted at retiring since at least last November but held off at the request of the administration to coordinate the security measures for the Mr. Amigo and Charro Days events. He has been with the department for more than 30 years.
He was appointed by former City Manager Charlie Cabler as interim chief on Dec. 20, 2011, and was made chief the following year.
(Insiders say Rodriguez lost the confidence of the Brownsville Police Officers Association and the top officers in the department for catering to the whims of some city officials, particularly Rose Gowen and Jessica Tetreau. In the case of Gowen, he had officers looking for her bicycles that were stolen from her house and even held a neighborhood watch alert in her neighborhood after the theft. Tetreau has repeatedly called him personally to attend to her personal whims. That "political" posturing did not sit well with the rank-and-file, they say.)
And three veteran police department administrators have emerged as the top candidates for the interim – and when the time comes – for the permanent appointment to the top position at the department.
According to PD sources, they are:
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*Felix Sauceda
*David Dale, and
*William Dietrich
As has become the norm in Brownsville, the interim administrator will serve until the city manager (Interim City Manager Michael Lopez) opens the application process and vets all the applicants to find a replacement for Rodriguez.
(Incidentally, not only does the city have an interim city manager, it also has an interim fire chief, an interim city attorney, actually now a contract attorney acting as city attorney), and now an interim police chief.)
In this vacuum, Mayor Tony Martinez and several city commissioners are now wagging the dog, ramming through their agendas through the city departments.
But as far as the police chief candidates, sources say that although Rodriguez recommended that Lopez appoint David Dale, identified in the police website as head of the Uniform Services Command, police officers held an informal poll and the results went against Rodriguez's recommendation.
According to sources there, Sauceda was the top vote-getter in a poll of the three candidates. According to the poll, Sauceda garnered 60 percent of the votes, Dale got 30 percent, and Dietrich received the rest.
Sauceda, BPOA sources say, is the only candidate with a Masters degree in police administration. He has been on the force for 27 years holding the position of Narcotics Supervisor, property and evidence supervisor, jail administrator, auto theft supervisor, and been on BPD SWAT team for 24 years and commander of the unit for 12.
He was born and raised in Brownsville, is 100 percent bilingual, is Administrative Lieutenant of Patrol and holds several certificates for office of emergency management.
Rodriguez had hinted at retiring since at least last November but held off at the request of the administration to coordinate the security measures for the Mr. Amigo and Charro Days events. He has been with the department for more than 30 years.
He was appointed by former City Manager Charlie Cabler as interim chief on Dec. 20, 2011, and was made chief the following year.
(Insiders say Rodriguez lost the confidence of the Brownsville Police Officers Association and the top officers in the department for catering to the whims of some city officials, particularly Rose Gowen and Jessica Tetreau. In the case of Gowen, he had officers looking for her bicycles that were stolen from her house and even held a neighborhood watch alert in her neighborhood after the theft. Tetreau has repeatedly called him personally to attend to her personal whims. That "political" posturing did not sit well with the rank-and-file, they say.)
And three veteran police department administrators have emerged as the top candidates for the interim – and when the time comes – for the permanent appointment to the top position at the department.
According to PD sources, they are:
*Felix Sauceda*David Dale, and
*William Dietrich
As has become the norm in Brownsville, the interim administrator will serve until the city manager (Interim City Manager Michael Lopez) opens the application process and vets all the applicants to find a replacement for Rodriguez.
(Incidentally, not only does the city have an interim city manager, it also has an interim fire chief, an interim city attorney, actually now a contract attorney acting as city attorney), and now an interim police chief.)
In this vacuum, Mayor Tony Martinez and several city commissioners are now wagging the dog, ramming through their agendas through the city departments.
But as far as the police chief candidates, sources say that although Rodriguez recommended that Lopez appoint David Dale, identified in the police website as head of the Uniform Services Command, police officers held an informal poll and the results went against Rodriguez's recommendation.
According to sources there, Sauceda was the top vote-getter in a poll of the three candidates. According to the poll, Sauceda garnered 60 percent of the votes, Dale got 30 percent, and Dietrich received the rest.
Sauceda, BPOA sources say, is the only candidate with a Masters degree in police administration. He has been on the force for 27 years holding the position of Narcotics Supervisor, property and evidence supervisor, jail administrator, auto theft supervisor, and been on BPD SWAT team for 24 years and commander of the unit for 12.
He was born and raised in Brownsville, is 100 percent bilingual, is Administrative Lieutenant of Patrol and holds several certificates for office of emergency management.