Flores came from Arlington police where he worked for 27 years.
SAN ANTONIO — The booming town of New Braunfels has a new police chief. Osbaldo Flores has only been on the job for one month. Flores came from Arlington police where he worked for 27 years.
“Working my way from a patrol officer to various areas of the department and rose from the ranks to the assistant chief,” he said.
He was selected out of a national search, and according to the city, he beat out more than 30 other candidates.
This week, Flores is going around New Braunfels to get to know the people.
“One of the things that attracted me to New Braunfels was Arlington is also a tourist city, there is a lot of comparisons between both,” he said.
Flores said becoming a chief was a goal of his for a long time.
“I really felt when I was looking for an opportunity to become a chief, that I wanted a sense of connection with that community,” he said. “So, New Braunfels offered just that, growing up in San Antonio and vacationing here in New Braunfels, I felt like I was coming home.”
Flores is from San Antonio and graduated from St. Anthony Catholic High School.
In his first meeting with the community at Fischer Park, the chief spoke to a small group of people who showed up and wanted to meet him.
“I think regardless whether you come from inside the organization, or outside the organization, it is so important and critical to build trust both with your team members and also in the community,” Flores said.
The chief said he has four areas of focus, like operational and administrative excellence, leadership development, strategic planning, and engaging stakeholders.
What about crime in New Braunfels?
“Right now, I am trying to understand people’s concerns as it relates to crime,” he said. “Some of if whether it be traffic enforcement, property crime, those are the things that people are bringing to my attention then we will start looking at how we are going to address that over a period of time.”
Chief Flores said he is interested in a geographic police model and, didn’t say yes or no about the need for more police officers.
“I think the thing I am evaluating now is how we are working within the organization now,” he said.