Mills comes to Eagle Pass by way of our state capital of Austin where he has since been retired and working for a law enforcement consulting firm.
"There's a lot of work ahead, there's much to talk about," stated Barrientos, "I would like to thank our top three staff of Lieutenants Escamilla, Peña and Guedea for their hard work and leadership, gentlemen, thank you."
She proceeded to introduce Chief Mills who comes to us with extensive experience and a welcomed perspective of how a department could run, "In talking with them, I gathered that together they possess 50 years of experience and with my 30 we have good experience to call on because I don't come with all the ideas in the world, but experience will dictate the standard operating procedures we will put in place. We will improve the police department in this community."
He mentioned that it is a lot like Austin here, as Eagle Pass and South Texas have that Hill Country feel to their landscape and added that it was freezing there when he left, before saying he's looking forward to getting to know our citizens.
"I'm thrilled to be here, I look forward to working with a good team. We will continue to look at how the department is structured, we'll be looking at policies and standard operating procedures in the department," he added, "It's a new set of eyes, essentially, because if you treat me like a consultant, a consultant comes in and finds out how things are done, don't get me wrong, I am going to ask questions, but I want to get out in the community, I want to get a feel for what the expectations are for the police department because it's their police department,"
When asked if his last stop as a chief was in Austin, Chief Mills stated that his entire career was in Austin as he worked his way up the administrative ladder, "I was a career officer in Austin I retired from the police department as an assistant chief in 2000, then I took over as police chief for the airport in Austin, then I was the director of public safety in Austin for three or four years, my whole career has been in Austin and I do consulting for other police departments as well."
The new chief will now begin to work with his new force, his staff, sergeants, detectives, lieutenants as well as with City Council and administration to assist the EPPD in it's day to day business as the city begins to prepare the formal search for its next full-time head of the Eagle Pass Police Department.
