Peter Pacillas has been hired as the next El Paso police chief effective immediately, city officials announced on Monday.
Pacillas’ appointment follows a months-long search for a new leader of the department after the death of former longtime Chief Greg Allen.
Pacillas, who served as assistant chief to Allen for nearly 20 years, was named interim chief in February ahead of the national search launched in May. In August, the city named four finalists for the role before making a final selection. City officials said 25 candidates applied for the job.
The official hiring comes two weeks after the city held a meet and greet with the finalists during a community event at the El Paso Museum of Art.
Pacillas is a lifelong El Pasoan who graduated from Burges High School. He has served with the El Paso police for 38 years.
Pacillas will oversee a department of more than 1,130 sworn officers and about 270 civilian personnel, as well as a $192 million annual budget.
The police chief’s salary may range from $121,500 to $239,000 a year, according to the job description. It was not immediately clear how much Pacillas will be paid.
Pacillas takes over the department that has received praise for getting El Paso recognized as one of the safest in the nation, but the police department has also received criticism for being a hostile workplace for women.
El Paso has consistently ranked among the safest cities with populations of more than 500,000 on the FBI standardized crime reporting for more than two decades and over the years has implemented several programs to improve community policing. Most recently, the department created Crisis Intervention Teams to better respond to people having a mental health crisis.
But an El Paso Matters investigation this summer revealed numerous EPPD officers had been arrested on allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct toward women – including two police supervisors who in August were charged with official oppression. Many others had complaints filed against them internally and received little discipline while the complaining women officers faced retaliation.
Pacillas was appointed by former City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. The City Charter authorizes the city manager, and not the City Council, to appoint the police chief under the city manager form of government. The City Council earlier this year voted to move forward with hiring a search firm for the police chief search after firing Gonzalez. Gonzalez started the search, but Westin took over the process after Gonzalez’s last day in the role at the end of June.
This story will be updated.
The post Peter Pacillas to serve as El Paso’s new police chief appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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