A.D. Ibarra

-Eagle Pass

     In an exclusive interview, EPPD Police Chief Sam Granato informed The News Gram of the initiatives the police force will be implementing in their efforts to complete their new and improved policy manual, approach crime in Eagle Pass in a more proactive role and even allow for more citizen interaction in order for the community to know what the job of a patrol officer entails.

     "We're presently continuing with a lot of work Chief Mills had done to improve the department such as the new Policy and Procedures Manual which requires a lot of review to see if it fits for Eagle Pass," stated the new man in charge of the Eagle Pass Police Department, "We are also looking into some programs which will reach out to the community."

     Another new facet of the police work the department is implementing is the Sergeant's Daily Activity report to the chief and the city manager in order for administration to be aware of all of the incidents handled by their police force.

     The chief is even considering what he termed a citizen's academy for members of the community to actually be trained to ride along with patrol officers on duty, a novel initiative which will allow citizens first hand experience on what the job of an officer is on a daily basis.

     A major concern for the new chief is the inadequacy of the present facilities as he feels the facility is outdated and in need of serious addressing from the holding cells which he does not feel are fit for use.  The department will be addressing this issue by moving to a new facility at the former National Guard Armory soon.

     When asked what his perspective was in terms of the challenges we face in a border city as opposed to what he saw in Corpus Christi, Kingsville and Yakima, Washington where he is coming to us from after serving as police chief there, he said that the drug problem is prevalent and what he and his officers will be dealing with will be community drug dealers who he feels are a large part of the drug problem in any community.

     "We have multiple agencies addressing the drug trade on the large scale, but what they don't see is the dealing in our neighborhoods," added Granato, "If they feel it's too small to deal with, we're going to do it because it affects the quality of life in the community, and we intend to address it."

   All in all, Chief Granato was confident in his laying out his plans for continuing to improve the EPPD and his initiative to allow more interaction between the community and his police force will no doubt prove to be an impact on the way they do their job and how the public percieves police work.