Texas Border Business
By Selene Rodriguez
McALLEN, Texas – Within 35 years in public service, Donna Chief of Police Gilbert Guerrero has built a career that has taken him from patrolman to investigator, lieutenant and to eventually chief of police in the community where he was born and raised.
However, at 56, he decided there was still something he wanted to accomplish: Earning his first college degree from South Texas College.
“Even with more than 30 years of experience, I still lacked one thing, and that was education,” he said. “Going to college changed my perspective and the way I approach things. Now I encourage my officers to keep training, keep learning and continue growing in their careers. I’m 100% behind them.”
For Guerrero, the milestone is especially meaningful considering college was not always part of the future he envisioned.
Born and raised in Donna to migrant worker parents, Guerrero remembers spending summers traveling north with his family for work. A high school football player, he was offered several scholarships but ultimately did not pursue the opportunity.
“Growing up in the 1970s, you thought differently. We didn’t think too much about school,” he said. “The environment was different. We thought about having fun, playing outside and going up north to work during the summer. It was a different time.”
Still, Guerrero had goals of building a career of his own, and an early interest in law enforcement eventually helped shape that path.
He recalls being around 8 years old when he first noticed a U.S. Border Patrol agent visiting the fields where his family worked. Years later, a visit from a Texas state trooper to his high school class brought that interest back to the forefront.
“I was a young kid, maybe 7 or 8 years old, and I saw a man in uniform and I liked that,” he recalled. “That’s what prompted my interest back then.”
Guerrero officially began his law enforcement career in 1991 with the Alamo Police Department. About a year and a half later, he joined the Pharr Police Department, where he spent nearly two decades rising through the ranks.
After retiring from the department, he continued his career with the Texas Attorney General’s Office in McAllen, spending nearly seven years investigating Medicaid fraud and advocating for elderly residents who were not receiving the services and supplies intended for them.
“I would visit elderly people who were 80 or 90 years old who weren’t getting their supplies. They were getting defrauded,” he recalled. “I worked very hard at that job because I knew I was helping people who couldn’t help themselves. They needed somebody to stand up for them, and I loved being able to do that.”
In 2018, Guerrero’s career brought him back to his hometown when he was offered the opportunity to serve as Donna’s chief of police, a role in which he draws from his own experiences to support the officers serving under his leadership.
“I’ve been at the bottom of the barrel as a patrolman, working the night shift for five years, so I know how hard it is for some young police officers,” he said. “I learned through the years that one of the biggest things you can do is take care of your employees. My employees are my backbone. Without them, I cannot do anything.”
It is a philosophy that also extends to training and education. Guerrero has long encouraged his officers to continue developing professionally, but eventually realized higher education was a goal he wanted to pursue for himself as well.
He enrolled at STC in November 2024, where the Law Enforcement program allowed him to receive college credit for eligible training and experience accumulated throughout his career, putting his first college degree within reach.
“The first two classes that I took were very rewarding, and I said, ‘You know what? I want to continue,’” he said. “The way STC has the program set up, it is police officer friendly. It’s online, and you have a good core of instructors who come from law enforcement, so they understand what you’re doing.”
Guerrero graduated in May with an associate degree in Law Enforcement, crediting the flexibility of the program and support he received from the college with helping him reach the milestone, while continuing to lead a police department.
He now plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership at STC and hopes his experience will encourage others, from fellow officers established in their careers to students just beginning theirs, to continue learning and growing.
“I want to see those new kids, those 18-year-olds who want to start college, and tell them, ‘I’m the example,’” he said. “I’m 56 years old. I needed college. You need college. If they ever need me to talk to anybody and encourage them, I’m there for them.”
For more information on STC’s Law Enforcement program visit https://www.southtexascollege.edu/academics/law-enforcement/.
Information source: STC
