GRANGER – The City of Granger approved the hiring of police officer Haley Galindo to a full-time position during its November city council meeting. Her job officially began Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Galindo joins the Granger police force which consists of Chief of Police Jess Eckard, Officer Mark Gray, and Sgt. Tommy Thomas.
Although she is new to the position, Galindo has been serving the Granger community as a reserve officer for around two years.
“Reserve officers basically come out one weekend per month and help out the fulltime officers,” she explains. “They are police officers, just the same as a full-time officer, so they do the same things.”
Serving as a reserve officer helps keep a policeman’s commission with the state, especially if the person has another full-time job.
This will be Galindo’s first time to serve as a full-time police officer.
“I knew that I’d be making the transition to a full-time officer at some point,” she says. “When I was doing reserve, I was working for Round Rock Police Department as a fulltime animal control officer.”
Galindo was born and raised in Round Rock and graduated from McNeil High School. The choice to become a police officer wasn’t hard.
“It runs in the family,” she says. “Law enforcement, military. It was something I picked up from my dad, cousins, uncles, aunts.”
She obtained her degree in Criminal Justice from Austin Community College, and went through police academy training there as well, graduating in 2017.
She worked for several general practice vets in the Austin area, including ZippiVet and the Banfield Pet Hospital.
In addition to already having experience with the community of Granger, Galindo says the community fits well with her career goals.
“I knew that I wanted to find a smaller town, one that I could better connect with, as far as policing goes” she says. “The community policing model is something that I do best. You can do that better in a smaller town.”
