CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As of Tuesday, the City of Odem Police Department has shut down. Now emergency calls are handled 10 minutes away at the San Patricio County Sheriff's Office.
"Sinton is only 7 miles away but lately we've seen county deputies patrolling at night here,” Odem resident, Carlos Bargas said.
Bargas has lived in Odem his entire life. He even attends weekly city council meetings.
He was there when Odem city leaders approved police chief, Gerardo Ochoa’s request for retirement.
"We need a police force because as you can see there's a lot of busy traffic going by. This is a little busy town,” Bargas said.
With Ochoa being the last remaining police officer in this little busy town, there are some questions about, who will be there in case of an emergency.
"If something happens and we call 911 they have to respond and page one of the Sheriff’s Department deputies. They can be Edroy or in Sinton and by the time they get here it might be too late,” Bargas said.
San Patricio County Sheriff, Oscar Rivera reassures the people of Odem.
"It takes us about 7 minutes to respond from Sinton and I've even seen Sinton PD show up over. They know if there's a serious event to respond quickly,” Rivera said.
Rivera is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep law enforcement in the area.
"My solution at this point is to hire a deputy to work strictly Odem from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm because that's the busiest time in Odem,” Rivera said.
Texas DPS troopers will also help. The Texas Highway Patrol will assist with incident crash reports.
The San Patricio County Sheriff’s office will support the City of Odem as long as they’re needed.
Also advising city leaders on what to do with their police department.
