Alma Police Chief creates police dept. with a little help from neighboring city

ALMA – When Joe Sifuentes took the job as police chief in April, 2019 in the town of Alma, it was a first for the residents there.

He created the police department in the town of 397 residents (as of the latest census estimation) with himself and two reserve officers to assist. 

As in the past before the PD’s creation, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department had been, and still does, handle the dispatch for the newly created police department. 

“Hopefully we will hire another paid officer and two more reserves within the next year,” Chief Sifuentes said of the growing town and police department.

Sifuentes came from Ennis where he worked for 33 years prior to his retirement. He worked in Ennis for 29 years as a patrol sergeant, 12 years as a member of the original SWAT team and during his tenure he reported to four different chiefs. 

Due to his years of experience, when he was hired to take on the police chief role in Alma, he definitely knew a thing or two about what would need to go into the creation of a department for this small town located in Ellis County off I-45. 

One standout in the success of the Alma Police Department was his work with the City of Ferris directly after retiring from Ennis.

“After retiring, I was hired by then Ferris Police Chief Eddie Salazar as an investigator,” Sifuentes explained. “So I have a personal connection with the City of Ferris, serving its citizens.”

Sifuentes joined the Ferris Police Department in May of 2016, where he began helping in the criminal investigations department.

“Sifuentes spent a total of two years at Ferris where at the time I held the position of patrol sergeant,” said Ferris Police Chief John DeLeon. “We became good colleagues and established a good working relationship.” 

Thanks to that connection, Ferris PD donated three vehicles to Alma that needed only minimal work to be street ready; two 2012 Dodge Chargers and one 2008 Dodge Durango. 

“Sifuentes contacted Ferris and asked the Ferris Police Department for a helping hand,” DeLeon explained. “When Sifuentes reached out, I was in a position to help a fellow colleague, and wasted no time in donating anything that he could use to get his newly formed police department going.”  

The Mexia Police Department also gave Alma the needed equipment for the vehicles.

“Officers, by nature, tend to give a fellow officer a helping hand when in need,” DeLeon concluded. “Our situation was not out of the ordinary. In my tenure as chief, I have been lucky in that the agencies from the surrounding cities have helped Ferris out when in need. I was in position to help not only a fellow officer but also the citizens of Alma, which made the help much more satisfying.”