Special Report: New Salinas Police recruits

It has not been an easy road for the Salinas Police Department and the community in the last year. But there is renewed hope through a new generation of officers who just started the academy in June.

For the first time in an exclusive interview, we introduce you to the men behind the badge in a special report.

Currently there are 136 police officers in Salinas. Chief Kelly McMillin said thanks to sales tax Measure G, the department will eventually be able to hire more than 40 officers, bringing that total to about 180.

This is the first year the department has been able to fill empty positions since the recession, and these recruits have an important job. But the first day of school at the police academy carries extra weight for six Salinas recruits.

“Everything is taken very seriously,” one of the six recruits, Mario Avina said.

These men represent somewhat of a fresh start for Salinas police and the community.

“We’re really interested in finding recruits who have connections to Salinas,” McMillin explained.

These men come from all walks of life, but have two things in common.

“Born and raised in Salinas,” Abel Gomez said.

“My grandparents they actually live in Salinas,” Robert Durst explained.

“It’s where I’ve grown up. It’s the town I know,” Mitchell Eggers said.

The other thing that ties them together is that, “being a cop has been a lifelong dream,” said Gomez.

Gomez, 25, grew up attending a church in East Salinas and that’s where he met his wife.

Growing up in the area he also got know an officer on that beat.

“He would always take the time to talk to me and he would give me stickers and stuff like that. And I guess that kind of had an impact on me like, oh man, these guys are cool,” Gomez said.

Mitchell Eggers had firsthand knowledge of “those guys.” His father was a 30 year veteran of the force and led the Monterey County Gang Task Force.

“It’s not just where dad works, it’s now where you work,” Eggers said.

The recruits undergo six months at the academy in Seaside. Mario Avina, 23, doesn’t shy away from a challenge.

“Going through high school I had to work in the fields in order to pay for my cap and gown for my high school graduation,” Avina said.

Avina first learned to speak English at Salinas High School. “I was born down in Mexico. My family decided to settle down in Salinas in 2007,” Avina said.

Avina said his parents raised him to have respect for everyone, even police officers.

“They’re not machines or anything like that. They are just human beings,” Avina said.

As these recruits learn how to become officers, the extra burden of building trust in the community comes with that.

After four officer involved shootings in 2014, in which two of those cases are in the hands of the Department of Justice, it’s fair to say the Salinas Police Department is under a microscope.

“We understand the trust issues facing the police department and we are working hard to overcome those,” Chief McMillin said. “But we also ask people to be objective and reasonable when they make decisions about what they see on TV and hear on social media.”

In June, cellphone video surfaced of a violent confrontation between officers and a man who was witnessed throwing his mother in to traffic. It sparked another public outcry and another potential lawsuit against the city.

“I would love to help gain respect and to put the trust back with the police in the community,” Durst said.

Hollister born and bred, Durst said he chose Salinas knowing full well what he’s up against when people see him in uniform.

“I will have that badge on and I do want to be there to protect the people. But I do want people to know that when I’m driving down the street (they can say) ‘hey Robert how you doing?’ And I’m going to do the same exact thing,” Durst said.

The community already knows Francisco Maldonado, 37.

“I use to come here with my friends. We use to play a lot of home run contests. I remember playing that until it was dark. I didn’t even think of how dangerous it was,” Maldonado explained.

The Salinas native said even now he still brings his kids back to Closter Park.

“For me as a child seeing a police officer in a uniform that made a difference in my life, so if I can do that for someone else that’s definitely my goal,” Maldonado said.

Maybe the recruit who sums up this group’s feelings the best, Gordon Hurley. Put his house on the market, packed up his family and moved from Oklahoma. All because he wanted to be a police officer in his home town.

“I want people to smile when they see me,” Hurley said.

NewsChannel 5 will be following the recruits through their time in the academy and bring you updates along the way. They are set to graduate December 3, 2015.