SAN ANTONIO – There are some big shoes to fill at the San Antonio Police Department. After leading the department for the past eight years, Chief William McManus is retiring at the end of the month.
On Jan. 1, McManus' handpicked replacement will take command. Deputy Chief Anthony Trevino has said he's not interested in just being an interim chief, he wants the job permanently.
"I don't view it as me keeping the seat warm for somebody else," Trevino said Monday. "I plan on putting in for the permanent position."
A native San Antonian and 21-year veteran of the SAPD, Trevino climbed the ranks from patrolman to deputy chief, serving as McManus' right-hand man for the past three years as his chief of staff and running the department's day-to-day operations.
"The benefit of that is I had the opportunity to work with the entire cross section of the Police Department," Trevino said. "That really positioned me well to work within the confines of the department, but also it enabled me to work with members of the community at a higher level to make sure that members of the community were receiving high quality service from the Police Department."
His position also allowed him to see how McManus ran the department and how he built strong ties with the community, something he hopes to build on.
"Chief McManus established a very strong foundation for our police department within the community and it's something, honestly, that I want to build upon," Trevino said. "He really kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things as far as the way we should look at our role as a police department and engaging with the community."
At a time when law enforcement agencies around the country are being heavily criticized, Trevino believes the key to running a successful department is being transparent and serving the people.
"Everything that we do is based solely upon the foundation of trust between the community that we work with and the community being able to trust their police department. And if that trust isn't there, anything that we do as an organization is called into question," Trevino said, adding he has no problem disciplining officers who fall out of line. "It's the job of the organization in the community to hold our officers accountable and as chief of police I plan to continue that as Chief McManus did."
Trevino said he supports putting body cameras on officers to record their interactions with the public and he equally supports the right of the people to protest.
"It's people's First Amendment rights and we have an obligation as a police department to protect those rights. It's not about quashing them, or keeping them down or anything like that, it's a matter of protecting those First Amendment rights for the people," Trevino said. "So long as they're doing it peaceably and they're not endangering the public, we're going to do everything to support that."
Perhaps the biggest problem Trevino will inherit is the ongoing contract dispute between the police union and the city. He said his job will be to keep the officers motivated while that continues to plays out.
"My role is to continue to move the organization forward, keep our officers focused on what our fundamental responsibilities are. Our fundamental responsibility is to protect the public from harm," Trevino said. "Whatever the contract negotiations that are ongoing between the city and the police union, that shouldn't impact what the officers do out in the field."
McManus will continue to serve as chief until the end of the month and Trevino will officially take over on New Year's Day.
While a search for a permanent chief has not been launched yet, Trevino believes the City Council won't start interviewing candidates until after the May elections.
Until then, he's treating the interim position as his dress rehearsal for the job.