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Residents criticize Edinburgh police response during public comment; city manager and staff engage
Summary
Multiple residents used the public comment period to raise repeated complaints about police response to loud-music and noise complaints, accusing officers of poor training and unprofessional conduct; the city manager and staff met with complainants and noted follow-up.
Several Edinburg residents used the March 18 public-comment period to complain about police response to neighborhood noise and to call for changes in department leadership.
Diana Saenz Sepulveda told the council she had repeatedly reported loud music coming from nearby neighbors and that patrol officers failed to address the problem. “They’re off the rails,” Sepulveda said of the Edinburgh Police Department, and she accused the chief and subordinate officers of “laziness, poor training, incompetence, entitlement [and] unwillingness to work for us taxpayers.” She said officers at multiple responses told her there was “nothing wrong here” or disputed the existence of the relevant city ordinance. Sepulveda said she had reported the incidents to sergeants, lieutenants, the assistant chief, and to City Manager Myra Ayala, and she told the council the manager had been “very helpful and very patient.”
Her husband, Reynaldo Sepulveda, a retired lieutenant with another police department, described specific encounters with officers Edgar Perez (badge 101) and Rudy Leija (badge 67). He said one officer told neighbors that the complainants were “complainers” and warned them to “watch their back,” a remark he said worsened rather than diffused the situation. He said one officer initially told him no ordinance existed and later an officer confirmed an ordinance revision applied to the complaint.
City Manager Myra Ayala and staff members Brandon Alanis and others were mentioned as having listened to the Sepulvedas’ concerns. The Sepulvedas told the council they appreciated Ayala’s outreach and asked the council to address the police response practices.
No formal action on police department staffing or discipline was recorded in the meeting minutes. The city manager acknowledged the complaints during the public-comment sequence and engaged staff in follow-up; the council moved on to other agenda items and later entered executive session for several matters unrelated on the public record.
Other public comments: Residents also used the public-comment period to request permits or promote community events, including April 5’s Team Mario autism awareness 5K, April 26’s Springfest at Capilla San Jose, and Casa Hidalgo’s April 16 candlelight vigil. Edinburg Fire/Rescue personnel reported the department had placed two electric-vehicle fire blankets into service and trained firefighters on their deployment.
