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HARLINGEN — During his four months as interim police chief, Deputy Chief Alfredo Alvear nearly doubled patrols along the city’s hot spots, part of his crackdown on crime and car crashes.

Now, he’s donning the city’s top law enforcement badge after commissioners named him police chief following his 30-year career with the Harlingen Police Department.

“I’m very appreciative for the trust the city leadership and mayor placed in me to lead this department,” Alvear said in an interview. “I’m very grateful and very humbled. It means a lot to me, having served 30 years with the department.”

In the last four months, Alvear helped lay the foundation for his plans as police chief.

“We accomplished a lot in these last months and I want to continue what we’re doing, connecting with the community and supporting the police officers in their duties protecting and serving the citizens of Harlingen,” he said. “I can’t do this without our staff.”

On Wednesday, commissioners met in closed session before announcing Alvear’s appointment, five months following former Police Chief Micheal Kester’s retirement after six years on the job.

“Chief, we think you are amazing,” Mayor Norma Sepulveda told him after the announcement. “We are so blessed to have you. You’ve done an amazing job as interim and I know you’re going to continue with that same passion and that same drive — and the city of Harlingen is better for it.”

Commissioners set Alvear’s salary at $132,000, City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said.

About five months after officials launched a national search for city’s next police chief, a committee reviewed 25 applications for the job before interviewing eight candidates, he said.

“It was nationwide — we had applicants from across the United States,” Gonzalez said. “We had candidates with vast experience in police work. The committee felt comfortable with (Alvear’s) philosophy and attitude. He’s got the respect of the officers. He’s had leadership roles in the department. He’s got the experience.”

After Gonzalez appointed him interim chief, Alvear took hold of the department’s reins, boosting patrols about 20% to 40% while cracking down on crime and car crashes in the city’s hot zones.

“He didn’t just sit back for the process to complete itself,” Gonzalez said, referring to the city’s search. “He took the helm and led the department.”

Alvear’s proud of his family’s history in law enforcement.

In 1859, his great-great grandfather Robert Shears was serving as Brownsville’s city marshal when Mexican rancher Juan Cortina shot and wounded him, sparking the Brownsville Raids, Alvear said.

Born in Brownsville, he climbed the ranks during his 30-year career with the Harlingen Police Department.

In 1995, he took a job as a patrolman before going on to work as a detective in the criminal investigations division in 2000.

By 2009, Alvear was serving as a patrol sergeant before his assignment to the police department’s training division two years later.

In 2017, he was appointed patrol commander before being named the division’s deputy chief in 2019, working with 60 officers.

Soon, Alvear was taking over as the city’s deputy police chief, overseeing the department’s 144 officers.

Now, his plans include working with the Harlingen school district and the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office to fight drugs, focusing on drug dealers “and how they’re using narcotics to entice children,” he said.

“I‘m focused on proactive community policing, addressing some of the issues concerning the citizens, reconnecting with the community and reconnecting with the youth,” Alvear said.

A former Marine, he served from 1989 to 1995, taking a stateside post during the Gulf War before serving at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in 1994 during the Cuban-Haitian refugee crisis.

Alvear, who holds a criminal justice degree from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and his wife Corina have a 17-year-old son.

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