The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — The city’s newest chief detective had barely moved into his new office when a young man got shot and died after what police say was a gang confrontation on Anderson Street, launching an intense and time-consuming investigation that has resulted so far in 14 arrests.

Friday, it became official and Jerry Hernandez’s police chief and family pinned on his new rank and badge as lieutenant and commander of the Seguin Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Hernandez was recognized in a short ceremony along with Officer John Crady, who was promoted to the rank of corporal, and Officers Mike Gonzales, Jaime Diaz and Franklin Thomas, who have earned detective shields and now join CID as its newest investigators, working for Hernandez.

In brief remarks during the ceremony, Police Chief Kevin Kelso recognized the families of the promoted officers.

“It’s fitting that your families are here because of the sacrifices your families make so you can serve your community,” Kelso said. “Sometimes when our officers come home from work, they carry a big burden, and families support these officers.”

Hernandez took a moment to recognize his family and the officers he works with.

“I’d like to thank my family — my beautiful wife, my mother and my family who provide my home support, and of course, I’d like to thank my family here at the police department,” Hernandez said. “I’d also like to thank the county attorney, the district attorney, the sheriff’s office and other agencies for the support they’ve shown.”

He singled out Kelso for his management of the department, which Hernandez said made it easier for he and the other detectives to do their jobs — and whose example, he said, would help make him a better supervisor.

“Chief’s positive attitude and demeanor make it easier for us to accept the challenges in CID and go on,” Hernandez said. “I know CID lieutenant is one of the most difficult jobs in this department. I appreciate all the support, and I’d like to thank everyone here for giving me this challenge.”

Kelso, who headed the Victoria Police Department’s CID on his rise through the ranks to second-in-command of that department, acknowledged there are challenges working in CID, which has long been understaffed due to budgetary constraints.

Hernandez, he said, has the ability to juggle multiple responsibilities and investigations — and the demeanor necessary to operate when needed for long hours under intense pressure.

And the SPD’s newest lieutenant has had to prove it from the very beginning.

He hadn’t even been publicly announced as the replacement for Johnny San Miguel, who retired to become 25th Judicial District Attorney Heather Hollub’s second investigator, when Garland Craig Taylor, 20, was shot in the head. The investigation has revealed the incident to be an alleged confrontation between the 74 Hoover Crips and the Mexican Mafia.

The crime scene ran the entire length of Anderson Street, and required an all-nighter followed by a full Saturday just to canvass the neighborhood, find out who the witnesses were and evaluate the crime scene.

After that, there were dozens of interviews — with many more still to come — and on Tuesday morning, just after Taylor died, officers began rounding up alleged participants and jailing them for their alleged crimes, but almost as much to try to prevent the anticipated retaliation of an all-out gang war.

That investigation continues, and to date, no one has been directly charged with killing Taylor.

More arrests are likely, officials say.

Kelso said he was very impressed to see how Hernandez has handled the Anderson Street investigation and that it confirmed the process he’s put in place in which promotions are made at the SPD.

It includes an appearance by the applicants before a board made up of chiefs and senior administrators of other neighboring departments.

“Jerry caught a bad time with this promotion,” Kelso said. “A lot of times, in a new position, you second-guess yourself and wonder, ‘Am I doing this or that correctly?’ Jerry didn’t have the opportunity to wonder, and he didn’t have the time to think about it. He just had to use the resources and the people he had — and Jerry has very good people — to get it done. He’s managed and directed this investigation wonderfully well.”

That might have something to do with experience.

Like his immediate predecessor, Hernandez is a San Antonio native.

He served 15 years in the U.S. Army, beginning as a military policeman and then working as an investigator for the army’s CID.

“I was fortunate enough with the positions I’d held in the military to have already worked in investigations,” Hernandez said.

In his CID role, Hernandez worked not only with military authorities, but also with civilian ones at the local, state and federal level, both in the United States and in Germany.

He’d conducted narcotics investigations and even gang investigations in the military, Hernandez said.

In March, 1996, he came home, and the San Antonio Police Department wasn’t hiring.

A contact at Texas Workforce Commission told him the SPD was.

“They didn’t even have time to send me a card,” Hernandez recalled. “They said, ‘Seguin’s hiring,’ and I came out and applied.

Hernandez and Officer Susan Stubbs were hired in that cycle — from a pool of 200 applicants who applied for the two slots.

Hernandez worked as a night shift patrolman for seven years, was promoted into CID and has remained there ever since.

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