On Monday, Dec. 9, before the Calallen Independent School District board meeting began, they announced and sworn in John Garcia as the district's first police chief.
Garcia, served as the safety and security director for the district for the past 18 months before receiving this new position.
“It’s an honor to be a part of Calallen history," he said discussing his emotions before the event.
The position came about due to House Bill 3, which mandates that every school has an armed person on every campus. This is only one small part of Garcia’s new duties.
“Of course, we want to provide a secure working environment not only for our staff but for our students," he said. "As a police chief, I’ll be monitoring that as well, making sure my police are present and making sure they are in tune with what the district is doing with their vision as well.”
As for the district’s security, they have acted fast in past emergency scenarios including an active shooter call on the first day of school.
Now with this new position, Superintendent Emily Lorenz expects responses to be even more coordinated in the next distress call.
“We’ll still need a presence when in case of an emergency, but now we have one person in district, who has a law enforcement background who’s more adept at handling those crisis situations while working with tandem with the local law enforcement," she said.
Going forward, Garcia expressed his happiness on the new role and wants to be someone the youth can lean on in times of need.
“We will generate reports if we have to," he said. "We will make arrests if we have to, but for the most part we want to be part of this community and be more than just law enforcement officers. We want to be role models for our students. We want to be someone they can come and talk to and depend on when they do have some needs."
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
