Nixon Police Department adds officer, interim chief

The City of Nixon welcomed two new peace officers on Tuesday - Interim Police Chief Mario Hernandez and Officer Matthew Garcia.

City Administrator Manuel Zepeda introduced the two newcomers to city council members during this month’s city council meeting.

After the meeting, Mario and Matthew were up for a chat — so they were happy to give the scoop on their history as well as their futures.

Mario has been in law enforcement for 20 years. He came to Nixon after working in Bandera County.

“I was born and raised in Seguin, and wanted to come back to my family,” he says. “That’s basically why I’m here.”

Mario has an advanced peace officer’s license, and is currently working on his master’s level certification. Like others, he says he grew up admiring policemen, and decided at an early age that law enforcement was going to be his life.

“Ever since I was a young kid, I wanted to be a policeman,” he says. “Growing up, I admired the officers. It’s something I really wanted to do.”

Mario says he’s thrilled to be serving the Nixon community, and that he really likes the folks there.

“We’ve got a good group of citizens here in Nixon who support us,” he says. “And everything’s going really good. “

Matthew has been in law enforcement for two years. He was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City. While in the military, he was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base.

“I went into law enforcement after I left the military,” he says. “I later transitioned into civilian life, and now I’ve joined the Nixon Police Department. I have been a Nixon police officer for 27 hours now!”

Has he had any sleep?

“Not yet,” he says with a laugh. “But I’m working on it.”

Like Mario, Matthew has developed an appreciation for the Nixon community and the responses he has received from the people.

“They’re very pro-law enforcement,” he says. “I think that’s great.”

For Matthew, living in the Bronx and then settling in Nixon has been somewhat of a surreal experience - if not a complete anomaly in itself. So how is Nixon different from the Bronx?

“In the Bronx, everything is still open at seven o’clock,” he says. “Here, everything is closed. So you’ve gotta get your shopping done early!”

“Everybody knows everybody here in Nixon, whereas in New York it’s much different,” he continues. “It’s culturally diverse. Here when they see me, they see something different — and that’s a good thing.”

All in all, Matthew says the key to achieving a sense of fulfillment as a peace officer lies in being passionate about what you do.

“Being young and in law enforcement, passion is what drives me,” he says. “And it’s keeping me strong. I see myself being in this profession for a very long time.”