After two months on the job, Texas A&M University- Kingsville Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Felipe Garza says he is happy with his new position and the transition has been smooth.

Garza came to the position with 35 years of experience in law enforcement beginning in 1975 as a patrol officer with the Kingsville Police Department.

“I kind of fell into law enforcement by accident,” Garza said.

As a psychology major at Texas A&I University in the early 1970s, Garza was asked by a friend to take the fire department physical exam and ended up with a job offer from the Kingsville Fire Department after he aced the exam.

“I also took the police department exam since it was being offered and passed that one as well,” Garza said. “After going through the process I became interested in being an officer and started working for the Kingsville Police Department.”

Garza quickly worked his way up the ranks and became a Sergeant and Commander then worked with the Juvenile Aide Bureau and Investigations unit before becoming Chief of Police in 1989, the position he held until his retirement in 2000.

A 1970 H.M. King High graduate, Garza went back to school at Texas A&I University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Service/Law Enforcement in 1991 and a master’s degree in Sociology in 1993, all while working full-time as Chief of Police.

He also allowed his officers to attend classes at the university during the day and would work around their schedules as needed.

“I have always been a big supporter of education and would permit officers to attend school at Texas A&M University-Kingsville while working full-time as well in order to better themselves and their families,” Garza said. “Many officers successfully received their bachelors and masters degrees and went on to bigger and better things, it gave us a high turnover rate but there is no price for education.”

After retiring from the Kingsville Police Department, Garza worked brief stints with both the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office and Office of Inspector General, under the Department of Human Services, in food stamp fraud.

In July 2001, he accepted the position of Director of the University Police Department at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, where he served until accepting his current position in April.

While still living in Kingsville, Garza would commute to work in Laredo three or four times a week and then come back to Kingsville on the weekends to be with his family.

Garza and his wife Elizabeth, a retired teacher, have four children who have all attended TAMUK.

Their oldest, Mary works with Time Warner in Corpus Christi; Edward, a TAMUK graduate works with Apple, Inc. in Austin; Belinda, a TAMUK graduate is an assistant band director in Orange Grove; and their youngest James, is currently attending TAMUK.

With his experiences at TAMIU, Garza expected TAMUK to be the same type of environment but he soon found that the universities had their differences.

“Since the universities are generally the same size and have around the same student population, I expected the job tasks to be the same,” Garza said.

“However TAMUK has a couple factors that are different including the graphic area which is more than twice the area at TAMIU.”

Garza also said that TAMIU is located away from the central part of the city of Laredo whereas TAMUK is a wide-open campus that flows concurrently with the City of Kingsville.

“At TAMIU there is one entrance and one exit to the university so if someone doesn’t have any business at the university area then there really is no need for them to be there,” Garza said. “TAMUK has many entrances and exits so the possibility of non-university students or faculty being in and around the campus is much higher.”

This factor comes into the picture when crimes are reported to the university police department, more so when burglary of a vehicle and criminal mischief of vehicles, the universities number one crimes, occur.

“Students are in a hurry and will leave valuables in the vehicles so anyone who walks by or is out there looking for items will easily break a window and take the items,” Garza said. “It is an ongoing problem, especially in the area around the dorms, and it is a crime which we are targeting harder to decrease.”

Garza said the police department is the process of installing around 17 more cameras in areas where burglaries are most common and possibly even having undercover cops monitor areas of the university as well.

With 12 officers under his watch, Garza said he is allotted three more and is looking to hire in the near future.

“The more staff we have, the more efficient the department can become,” Garza said. “Since we operate 24/7, it is crucial that we are fully staffed at all times.”

Garza said he has contacted the Kingsville Police Department and Kleberg County Sherriff’s Office to better bridge their resources together and ensure the TAMUK student’s safety, which he says is the departments top priority.

“Both Chief Torres and Sheriff Mata have been very helpful and willing to assist us with anything that comes up.” Garza said. “We are also working with Kleberg County Pct. 2 Constable Omar Rosales and possibly even the border patrol in the future since bailouts are common in this general area.”

For now, Garza said he is focused on raising student awareness of crimes on campus and informing them on ways to better protect themselves and their personal assets.

“We are looking to hold safety awareness projects and presentations around campus and also implement a rape awareness program soon for women to protect themselves from danger,” Garza said.

He said two officers attended a rape awareness training recently and learned very valuable information, which they would like to share with the students.

“The men and women in this department are very professional and want to do good things for the university,” Garza said.

He said with the university undergoing many changes he is excited to be a part of the team and be a witness to the university’s evolution.

“I am still in the process of trying to learn the workings of this university and both Dr. Steven Tallant, TAMUK President, and Dr. Marilyn Fowle, VP of Finance and Administration, have been very helpful and supportive,” Garza said. “I am very excited with where this university is going and I’m glad to be a part of it.”