BALCONES HEIGHTS, Texas – Balcones Heights City Council got its first look at a review of its police department Monday night.
The city hired a consultant to review the agency in the aftermath of the death of one of its officers earlier this year and the firing of the police chief.
The consultant from Rathburn and Associates spent two weeks reviewing the department, its policies and personnel and conducted interviews with officers and citizens.
The review was requested by the city following the murder of officer Julian Pesina.
Pesina was ambushed and shot to death by two masked gunmen in early May as he left a tattoo shop he co-owned.
Pesina's murder led to the termination of Police Chief Henry Dominguez in July when an internal investigation revealed numerous officers raised concerns to the chief about Pesina's gang-like tattoos and claims that he had ties to the Mexican Mafia. Despite those warnings, the chief didn't take any action and it cost him his job.
The consultant, Bill Rathburn, outlined his findings to the council; they include reorganizing the management structure and putting a focus on proactive policing instead of reactive policing.
Rathburn also emphasized the need to do more thorough background checks on officers joining the department, to avoid problems. The review did not offer any guidelines on adopting a tattoo policy.
Rathburn said he believes the department can turn things around and win back the publics trust, and he said morale in the department is pretty good right now.
The city spent over $32,000 on the review and will now work on adopting the suggested changes.
The council also spent time Monday night discussing the process for replacing outgoing City Administrator Amy Buckert. She announced earlier this month that she was resigning effective Oct. 1.
The city is expected to launch a statewide search for her replacement.