The Uvalde Police Department has a new assistant police chief after years without one.
This comes nearly a year since the Robb Elementary School shooting.
“My new title will be the assistant police chief of the Uvalde Police Department,” Homer Delgado said.
Tonight only on @ksatnews we are speaking with Uvalde’s new Assistant Police Chief Homer Delgado. He’s coming to the city from Dilley where he’s been the police chief for several years. Delgado has worked in law enforcement for over 25 years and comes with extensive experience pic.twitter.com/oAjZQ8EQkJ
— Leigh Waldman (@LeighWaldman) April 23, 2023
It’s a new chapter for Delgado. He’s leaving the Dilley Police Department, where he has been the chief for several years, to go to Uvalde.
“I’ve sat down with, of course, city management and the current police chief, Daniel Rodriguez, and we’ve discussed some of the ideas that we both have to improve the service of the police department, improve the trust of the community,” Delgado said.
Delgado comes with over 25 years of law enforcement experience. In that time, he’s worked in nearly every division of law enforcement investigations.
“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.
That includes active shooter training. 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.
On the day of the Robb Elementary shooting last May, Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez was out of town. Lt. Mariano Pargas was the acting chief as the department didn’t have an assistant chief to take the lead.
Pargas has since left the department and faced major criticism for what some call the lack of action on May 24, 2022.
Delgado says, with him as the assistant chief, someone will always be around to take charge in any situation.
“If the chief has to go out of town, then I will take control of the agency and make the decisions that need to be made,” he said.
Following the shooting at Robb Elementary, Delgado brought in over 500 police officers from across the state to help the community during their time of need.
He says he’s eager to be back, continuing to serve.
“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 y’all 24/7,” he said.
Delgado starts in Uvalde on May 8.
A few other achievements of his include being a master peace officer, an FBI LEEDA Trilogy award recipient, and accruing over 3,000 hours of TCOLE training, according to a news release from the city of Uvalde.