A community minded officer, Sgt. Gonzales is well known and highly regarded not only as a police officer but also as a sought after volunteer. His familiarity with community and its leadership, along with his bilingual / bicultural attributes will be a powerful resource in monitoring both the positive and negative pulse of our community.

Despite its challenges, our community is centered on strong religious beliefs, traditional family values and routines of work and recreation. New proactive strategies to control disorder and restore confidence are the goals of both MPD and community. Communicating with concerned leaders, residents, business owners and clergy play an important role in crime fighting efforts. These are valuable assets that are able to identify, prioritize and explore new proactive initiatives aimed at solving problems before they occur or escalate.

The stakes are high. As we proceed to build mutual trust and confidence we must hold accountable all sectors of the community: residents, parents, the school system, organizations, law enforcement and youth. We must continue to have open, honest and candid dialogue with MPD to resolve our most pressing and urgent matters. We must join efforts to build a united and strong community across all ethnic segments.

We tip our “sombreros” to Police Chief Hegerty for her participatory leadership in addressing our challenges and issues and for seeing us as a community of promise in spite of our challenges. We deeply appreciate her support in ways that can build mutual respect, understanding, and harmony.