In the span of 24 hours, Robstown let go of their Police Chief Rex Ramon and swore in another.
On Thursday, Mike Tamez was sworn in as the new chief of police for the City of Robstown. His main goal moving forward are community connection, accountability, and of course keeping drugs out of Robstown.
Mike Tamez took the position as the city’s top cop, but the process to get him there began a few weeks ago.
Robstown City Mayor David 'Petey' Martinez said the job for the Robstown Police Chief was not posted and that he learned about Tamez on social media.
"I messaged him, and I talked to him, and I met him and I told him if I win for the City of Robstown, I would like of you to be my chief, and he said but I am running for sheriff, and I said we will work something out," Martinez said.
On January 10th, the issue was discussed during a special city council meeting, which was attended by former Nueces County Assistant District Attorneys Angelica Hernandez and Matt Manning and former D.A. Mark Gonzalez.
They asked the city council to hire Tamez, who led the D.A.'s Interdiction Task Force Team.
Gonzalez told the council he's been in their position and decisions had to be made.
I knew as a head, as part of somebody that runs something, you need people that can get those jobs done and I always knew that my job was going to be a lot easier when Matt was right there next to me, when Angelica was there right next to me and also Mike Tamez," Gonzalez said.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, residents and first responders crowded the city council chambers as they along with Chief Rex Ramon learned that fate of the police department.
Former Chief Ramon had an idea that he was going to be replaced but didn’t understand why.
Soon after, Ramon addressed the council and said he was grateful to serve the community of Robstown for the past two years.
"Coming back home to me was priceless, thank you for giving me the opportunity to run this department," Ramon said.
Martinez said the decision came after he was elected mayor back in December, because he wanted to bring changes to the city.
"Automatically when a new mayor comes in he bring his own administration, so that is what I did they know it, everybody knows in the city that when you have a political office it goes with your job, so it is nothing new," Martinez said.
Martinez said after hearing several complaints from officers he wanted to bring in a new police chief.
"By things that I would hear from the officers that they needed a tremendous, powerful, somebody strong with leadership and we have somebody like that," Martinez said.
Tamez said he will prioritize the safety of Robstowns' residents.
"We have to tackle crime, right now Robstown leads the entire county in our UCR crime rate and that is unacceptable," Tamez said. "So we have to hit these guys one on the narcotic side, because eventually a lot of the crime that is in the city is associated with drug dealing, it’s unfortunate."
Tamez said along with safety he will also make sure everyone in the department will be held accountable.
"Leadership has to be held accountable for the fault of our subordinates, we can’t just say that these young officers are accountable for one hundred percent of our mistakes, we are not without sin, I understand that," Tamez said. "We will work through those issues but we can’t say that this young officer is only one making mistakes when we have a direct who is not going to take accountability for any of it, those days are over."
Tamez said he has stepped down from the race to assume his new role as the new Robstown Police Chief.
"This was a place where I knew I can make a direct impact, I know I can make that impact, I might not have that opportunity in November, Sheriff Hooper is a very strong candidate, he is a very difficult candidate to beat," Tamez said.
KRIS 6 News reached out to Former Chief Ramon and he chose not to comment on the issue, saying he just wants to close this chapter in his life.
Tamez said he is looking forward for people not being afraid to approach officers and for his department to feel like family.
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