By Bill Carey
Police1
UVALDE, Texas — Dilley Police Chief Homer Delgado has accepted the position of assistant chief with the Uvalde Police Department, an agency struggling to right itself after last year’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School where 21 people were killed.
Uvalde has been without an assistant chief for several years. On the day of the shooting, Uvalde Chief Daniel Rodriguez was out of town and Lt. Marian Pargas was the acting chief, KSAT reported.
Pargas faced widespread criticism for a lack of action and left the department. At the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr., Delgado stepped in to oversee the out-of-town officers while still serving as Dilley’s chief last June.
Delgado, who has been chief in Dilley for several years, brings with him over 25 years of law enforcement experience and is looking forward to rebuilding the relationship between the community and the police in Uvalde.
“To the community of Uvalde, I’m very excited to serve you. If there’s anything you need, my door will always be open, and I’ll be available to you 24/7,” he said.
Delgado has experience in nearly every part of law enforcement. “Tactical operations, hostage crisis negotiations, I’ve always been one of those people who, if there was an opportunity, I wanted to take it,” he said.
He’s also a trainer for civilian response to active shooters.
“If there’s a situation, if there’s anything that I can do to make sure that people are safe, I will promise you that I will do it,” Delgado said.
Delgado starts his new position on May 8.