“We’ve to increase our patrols and deploy more officers,” he said in an interview after the Senate unanimously confirmed his appointment. “It will be also easy to solve cases if we have more information — we need public support.”
Senate Vice President Felix T. Mendiola, Covenant-Rota, and Sen. Luis P. Crisostimo, D-Saipan, urged Tudela to “look into the rising crime rate.”
Crisostimo said he commends Tudela “for taking this tough task,” adding that he himself have lost generators to burglars.
“There are a lot of burglaries and I hope DPS will prevent them from happening and will solve the pending cases,” the senator said.
Mendiola, for his part, told Tudela: “You have a load on your shoulders, but I know you can do it.”
Sen. Paul A. Manglona, R-Rota, said he believes Tudela “will do a good job.”
Manglona at the same time commended the governor for nominating Republicans to key positions recently.
Tudela, who has already retired, served under the Republican administration from 2002 to 2006.
He will be the fourth DPS chief of the current administration which was sworn into office in Jan. 2006.
Tudela’s successor was Ernest Williams, who was terminated by the governor in April 2006.
The department’s legal counsel, Rebecca Warfield, was named the new DPS chief in Aug. 2006, but she returned to the Attorney General’s Office in March 2008 and was replaced by Clyde K. Norita.
Early this month, the governor fired Norita, who blamed “politics” for his abrupt dismissal.
