CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The fallout continues following Interim Nueces County District Attorney James Granberry's decision to dismantle the DA's Criminal Interdiction Unit.
Granberry also making the choice to fire both Mike Tamez, the unit's supervisor, and another officer from the program. 3NEWS spoke with area law enforcement leaders who expressed their disappointment.
All together, there are five agencies that made up the unit.
The move is something that could leave those agencies without the backup the program had provided during major crime events.
"To be completely honest with you, it's a little disheartening," said Bishop Police Department Chief Edward Day.
Day said he can't second guess why Granberry made the decision to kill the program, but he said there's no denying the criminal interdiction unit worked, benefitting the small town police department made up of just eight officers.
"I know the officers that were assigned to that team did amazing work it shows in the statistics and the cases they brought," Day said.
The unit was said to be a force multiplier for small departments when faced with big crime.
"There's definitely a need for that type of law enforcement, being a small community we work alongside Highway 77 it's a major drug corridor into the United States and if a team like this isn't out there, who is going to be out there and fill that void, and that's my question," Day said.
Along with the Bishop Police Department, other agencies included Robstown PD as well as the Nueces County Constables office for both Precinct 3 and Precinct 5. Together, they provided backup for each other when conducting traffic stops, home raids, or game room busts.
"A lot of small departments are limited in resources and the main focus is patrol and answering calls for service and some of those crimes that take a little more time to investigate kind of fall to the wayside," he said.
Precinct 5 Constable Oscar Mendoza and Precinct 3 Constable Jimmy Rivera said they also felt disappointment in Granberry's decision but will continue with their day to day duties.
"I was very surprised. It was a very effective team as far as CIU goes being that we are a small department we don't have the resources as other big agencies, it was great to combine the resources and make an impact in the community it was very effective," Mendoza said.
"When you have an effective team made up of a multitude of agencies you get a bigger response, punch a bigger whole in this, especially with the magnitude amount of drugs and money we seized, it's unreal," said Rivera.
Day said he hopes the partnerships will come together and figure out a way to keep the program going without the district attorney's office.
"I really hope someone comes in and fills that void because its definitely needed here in Nueces County and the citizens deserve it as well," Day said.
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