Popular Ferris police chief resigns, detective retires

FERRIS – The Ferris City Council accepted the resignation of former police chief now Director of Public Safety Eddie Salazar at Monday night’s city council meeting.

His last day will be later this week.

Salazar had presented the city with a settlement offer letter after months of back and forth with the city council regarding an issue that was related to an internal investigation of the Ferris court supervisor who had been placed on paid leave.

Originally, council had requested Salazar take a suspension. Over the course of the last few months however, a series of special council meetings and conversations resulted in the outcome from last night’s meeting.

A Texas Municipal League attorney was at the council meeting, and consulted in the executive session that took place during the meeting before the final acceptance of Salazar’s resignation was announced.

Mayor Pro Tem/Acting Mayor Tommy Scott said, “Whoever we hire to replace Chief Salazar will not be from Ferris, have any ties to Ferris or know anything about this city and its politics.”

Long-time Ferris Detective Walter Weiss retired yesterday prior to the acceptance of Salazar’s resignation. Weiss has been a detective with the city for many years, and it has not been revealed who will take over CID investigations with his departure.

The city council also voted unanimously to hire Brooks Williams as the new city manager at Monday night’s meeting. According to Scott, Williams comes from the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area and has no ties to the city of Ferris.

He has worked in the realm of city administration in his past jobs in the Dallas area.

The city council also voted unanimously to approve an agreement with Sam Houston State University to purchase CRIMES RMS in the amount of $27,000. This purchase will allow the Ferris Police Department more access to needed information relating to local crime.

Salazar told council Sam Houston State University will be on call 24/7 for training and offer unlimited hours of training as needed.

The council also voted to allow the police department to donate three of its retired police vehicles to the city of Alma.

The City of Alma is creating its first police department, and Salazar suggested the donation would be a winning situation for both Ferris and Alma.

Alma needs the police cars and can do any necessary maintenance, and Ferris needs to get rid of the police cars from its fleet.