BANGS – At a special called meeting Monday night, the Bangs City Council unanimously approved the hire of Robert Garcia as new Bangs Chief of Police.

Garcia, 32, is a 13-year law enforcement veteran who most recently served as chief of police in Spur, but stepped away from the profession a year ago to pursue a job in a field with higher pay. The Bangs City Council also approved Garcia’s starting salary to be $49,000 per year which, according to Bangs Mayor Rick Phelps, is approximately $10,000 more than Garcia made at his previous stop but $13,000 less than former Bangs Police Chief Jorge Camarillo – who was terminated by the council on Sept. 13.

Garcia did not attend the meeting as Monday night as he was still in Spur, located in Dickens County 70 miles due east of Lubbock, with a population of approximately 1,300 residents. Garcia is married and has a 13-year-old son, as well as two older children, according to council members.

Phelps, Mayor Pro-Tem Greggory Cassady and council member Anita Powell comprised the committee that interviewed four candidates and ultimately decided on Garcia, who is a graduate of the police academy in Midland and has a bachelor’s degree in history from Humboldt State and a criminal justice degree from South University Online.

“He seems like the right person for this place and could be a real asset and someone the citizens of Bangs can feel like they know and trust in him and see he’s going to be there for them in case they need anything,” Phelps said. “This is a chief that knows nobody in Bangs. He’s coming here with a fresh start, fresh mind, and he’s going to be meeting everybody on the same level. He’s going to be able to come in here and train his officers the way he was trained. He’s got this energy and love for small towns, and he’s excited and he wants to be here. I believe this will be a chief that everyone will be proud of.”

Cassady said, “He was real adamant about it starts at the top and that he has to work with his other officers or it’s not going to work. If his officers don’t understand or respect him, then they’re not going to be able to do their jobs. He makes sure his officers understand what their daily task is, their obligation to this city and community, which he talked non-stop about. He wants the community to trust the police force and that was a big issue on my end. For the last several years, and several chiefs, we’ve had issues with trust from the community with our police force. He was real adamant that we get that trust back and that our citizens understand they’re here for them, not the other way around.”

Powell added, “He seemed like he really wanted to be on top of everything and to put together a good department. He wanted to be aware of anything his officers did and he wants it on his desk the next day.”

Council member Sheila Roberts asked, “Do you honestly think he’s going to be a good fit for us?”

All three members of the committee quickly answered in the affirmative.

Council member Marisa Craddock questioned if a decision was being made too quickly with only four candidates applying for the position in the three months it’s been open.

“Do you feel like this is the best candidate or do we need to look a little farther?” Craddock said. “I’m just asking because this is such a huge position and only four candidates doesn’t seem like very many. But if y’all feel like you’re OK with it I trust your judgment, but at the same time four is not that many to make a choice from. I really want to do this once.”

Powell replied, “My thought is it doesn’t matter who we are hire from the standpoint of how long they’re staying because we’re kind of a stepping stone to something bigger and better.”

Cassady added, “From what he presented us, I feel like he would be here at least a minimum of five years.”

Phelps said, “We thought about that and we discussed that beforehand and there was going to be no jumping. We haven’t had an active police chief since the end of August, so we’re going on four months. We had four candidates and there was absolutely nobody else that had even applied. He is the best candidate.”

Reasons for Camarillo’s termination included evidence not being logged into an evidence locker at city hall, Bangs Police Department guns located in a safe that could not be locked, not wearing a bulletproof vest and body camera, and not responding to calls.

Camarillo became the police in Bangs in December 2014. Prior to his termination Camarillo had been on medical leave since early August due to high blood pressure. Two additional officers resigned from the force about the same time, leaving Bangs without an active duty officer for months.

During that time, the Brown County Sheriff’s Office has been patrolling the city of Bangs.

“A lot of credit for the coverage of this town and the safety of our residents has got to go to Sheriff Vance Hill and his deputies,” Phelps said. “They’ve had someone over here that’s really been over here and keeping an eye on everything. It’s just incredible to see the kind of agency cooperation with the sheriff. They’ve done an amazing job.”

The new chief is targeting a Dec. 15 start date, according to Phelps, who added the city is now looking into hiring additional officers to round out the police force.

“We’ve had three applications and one is interested in going to the academy and coming back to Bangs,” Phelps said. “I would like to have at least two. Three would be great, but it’s really difficult and it’s been rare that we’ve had three. It has happened in the past, but it never seems to last very long that way. There are times when you really need to have two people on duty, things like Fourth of July and home football games are huge just with traffic control alone.”

Phelps stated Garcia will have a say in the new hires.

“Not allowing a police chief to have their hands in who the officers are going to be would be a huge mistake,” Phelps said. “They need to feel comfortable with who they’re going to work with and who will fit within the design they have for a police department. He seems to have a grasp of the kind of person he wants to hire as an officer so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to bring to the table as far as that’s concerned.”

In other business Monday, the city council unanimously approved spending up to $25,000 to fix the basketball court on Kyle Street.