The Chief Complaint
NEW VIDEO! The credit rating in the City of Mission, Texas has crumbled after a bad audit, but the city has another problem after allegations that police chief Cesar Torres has been targeting the police union for punishment. It is THE CHIEF COMPLAINT we’ve been investigating, and we’ve uncovered a troubling history.
the chief complaint
“Hey chief, how are you?” Said Dolcefino.
“Watch… it won’t take very long to rile the police chief in mission, Texas.” Dolcefino tells the camera.
“I’m not on trial and you’re not going to put me on trial.” Said Chief Torres.
“Seconds really…” Said Dolcefino.
“You’re not going to make a story of something that’s not that simple Wayne…,” said Chief Torres.
“Chief just so you’ll know I get to make a story about what I get to make the story without… I don’t need your permission.” Said Dolcefino.
“He’s vindictive, abusive, and just a straight-up liar.” said Javier Lara.
“I’ll never trust that piece of shit.” Says his former trooper employee.
“Cesar Torres is now the police chief in the town where his law enforcement career started 34 years ago.” Says Dolcefino.
“But much of his time wearing a badge and a gun was spent as a trooper with the Texas department of public safety.” Dolcefino tells us.
“A 20-year career filled with some controversy” said Dolcefino.
“In 2010 trooper Torres was accused of staging a traffic stop with a wrecker driver. 281,000 in cash was found in the vehicle.” Says Dolcefino.
“The tow truck driver fought the state to keep the cash…” He tells us.
“We found no evidence Torres ever got punished but he should have been” said Dolcefino.
“More I found out about him the more and more just made sense about how much of a piece of shit he was” says the DPS trooper.
“This current DPS trooper says he got caught up in another alleged Torres scheme… and this time Torres did get busted… and he have the DPS records to prove it.” Said Dolcefino.
“At the time, DPS was paying employees a 2-thousand-dollar bonus if they got someone else hired.” Said Dolcefino.
“In 2015… the DPS found out that Torres had coerced this anonymous trooper into signing that recruitment bonus form along with a threat.” said Dolcefino.
“Basically, what he said was if you I won’t sign it saying that I recruited you, I can make your background or make the trooper doing your background pretty much screw you over” said the DPS trooper.
“By the time DPS started investigating lieutenant Torres in 2017… there were other allegations… a hostile and unprofessional work atmosphere.” Said Dolcefino.
“The allegations included that Torres had his administrative assistant take mandated training for him.” said Dolcefino.
“And that recruitment scheme… Torres received nine 2,000-dollar recruitment bonuses. nearly half were found to be improper.” Said Dolcefino.
“You were accused back in the DPS of taking kickbacks from troopers.” Dolcefino asked him.
“That’s not true.” Said Chief Torres.
“You filed false documents.” Dolcefino said.
“I’m not on trial and you’re not going to put me on trial, simple as that.” Said Chief Torres.
“Torres could have been charged criminally… a felony.” Dolcefino tells us.
“But records indicate the hidalgo county district attorney declined to prosecute.” Said Dolcefino.
“And the DPS punished Torres for violating 4 DPS standards of conduct.” Said Dolcefino.
“To my understanding, the only reason he wasn’t fired was because of the friends that he had in the Texas ranger division.” said Dolcefino.
“DPS records show Torres was demoted to sergeant… his salary cut 7 percent… he was suspended 15 days without pay.” Said Dolcefino.
“He’s coming to us from the department of public safety and he brings lots and lots of experience.” Said Mayor Molina.
“Within a few months… Torres got sworn in the new police chief in Edinburg… he hadn’t even officially retired from DPS.” Said Dolcefino.
“Did they know about your history at the DPS?” said Dolcefino.
“Well, you, again, you know, you’re making something out of that’s not. okay?” said Chief Torres.
“It is with open arms that our community welcomes Chief Cesar Torres.” Said Mayor Molina
“Edinburg’s honeymoon with Torres didn’t last long.” said Dolcefino.
“Reports of a hostile work environment resurfaced.” He tells us.
“We knew what Chief Torres had done when he was with DPS, and we tried to warn Edinburg not to hire him.” said Director Lawrence.
“Kevin Lawrence is the executive director of the Texas municipal police association… the state-wide union known as the TMPA.” Said Dolcefino.
“They had four years of absolute chaos, terrorism, and we had deal with it every minute of that.” Said Dolcefino.
“Torres had repeated clashes with the Edinburg united police officer’s association…” said Dolcefino.
“Union board members say they were targeted for punishment and given bad assignments.” said Dolcefino.
“An independent arbitrator found Torres guilty of retaliation against protected union activity.” says Dolcefino.
“Torres was fired by Edinburg… he filed a whistleblower lawsuit a month later… and Katie Klein is his lawyer.” says Dolcefino
“I think that the arbitrator’s ruling was incorrect, but it was not appealed by the city. so, we’re kind of stuck with that.” said Klein.
“Today, we are here to witness the appointment of new police chief Cesar Torres.” said O’Cana
“One year later Torres showed up again… sworn in as chief of police in mission.” said Dolcefino.
“Did the city know about your trouble at DPS?” said Dolcefino.
“You can look into it,” said Torres.
“We did look into it… focusing on his job application and the questions he was asked to answer.” said Dolcefino.
“We compared the entry level cop application with the questionnaire the chief filled out… not only did it -not- ask about prior disciplinary action…” said Dolcefino.
“What is your biggest error in judgement you have made?” the mission council asked.
“Taking too many tasks instead of delegating.” said Torres.
“There’s a statute in Texas that says before a law enforcement agency hires a cop, you have to do a thorough background investigation on it. somehow, we have some cities like mission who think that doesn’t apply to them hiring a chief.” said Lawrence.
“We knew he had history arriving in mission. Just like any new person that came to our city, we gave him a fresh shot.” said Lawrence.
“Our unions are there to advocate for officer’s rights, we advocate with the city, the city council, city manager.” said Lara
“Lara knows when the union is especially needed.” said Dolcefino.
“He was involved in a police shooting himself… back in 2016.” said Dolcefino.
“There were lawsuits and investigations before he was cleared.” said Dolcefino.
“But the union quickly saw a problem. right away Torres put out a memo forbidding officers from speaking to city officials.” said Dolcefino.
“Right off the bat, he was issuing illegal orders.” said Lawrence.
“Lara knew the chief’s history… he felt the target on his back.” said Dolcefino.
“When he got hired, I told my wife, hey listen, I’m going to get removed from investigations and I’m going to get fired. within two to three years. I got removed from investigations, and I got fired.” said Lara.
“Last April Lara was indefinitely suspended.” said Dolcefino.
“Lying, lying, withholding evidence, and not following proper procedure. but you think it was a setup?” said Dolcefino
“The complaint filed against Lara stemmed from a 2021 domestic violence case.” said Dolcefino.
“Mission dentist… dr. Harjap Nanva was indicted for assault with a deadly weapon after his wife claimed he hit her in the face with a gun.” said Dolcefino.
“All of that stuff was dismissed, and everything has been expunged.” said Dolcefino
“Nanva says he filed the complaint against Lara last November to clear his name.” said Dolcefino.
“I’m a doctor, I’m trying to win my reputation back because this guy hurt me a lot.” said Nanva.
“And get this… Nanva’s lawyer is also Katie Klein. the chief’s lawyer in that ongoing whistleblower complaint in Edinburg.” said Dolcefino.
“What investigator investigates an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and does not go to the scene, does not ask where the weapon was, does not look at the place, does not even try to find out what were the facts.” said Klein.
“But Lara says when he inherited the case the wife was already out of state… and was just in training to be an investigator. It is curious that his training officer wasn’t named in the complaint.” said Dolcefino.
“I’ve never heard anything about that, so I don’t have any information about that.” said Klein.
“The complaint came four years later… standard procedure in internal affairs investigations is to let officers review their old case file… but mission police refused to do that for Lara… and Lara says forgetting details of a four-year-old case got him fired for lying.” said Dolcefino.
“In both cities you’ve been in, the union president has gotten in trouble. Is that just a coincidence? said Dolcefino
“Look at the complaint. I didn’t file the complaint; it’s based on people filing complaints on employees.” said Torres.
“We’d love to look at the complaint… but since our chat with the chief you have refused to give it to me it should all be made public.” said Dolcefino.
“Of all the coincidences they have the same lawyer you don’t think that’s a coincidence?” said Dolcefino.
“I’m sorry. did you say coincidence? said Lawrence.
“Yeah, I’m saying.” said Dolcefino.
“We’re cops. We don’t believe in it.” said Lawrence.
“We asked Klein if she talked to chief Torres about Lara before her client filed the complaint.” said Dolcefino.
“I don’t recall if I spoke to him about that. I don’t recall if I spoke to him about that.” said Dolcefino.
“So chief Torres didn’t encourage Dr. Nanva to file this complaint? said Andrea.
“oh, heaven’s no.”
“Lara’s case goes to arbitration in a couple months.” said Dolcefino.
“I really think honestly that the union activity is a red herring. I don’t think that any actions that have been taken by Chief Torres have been related to union activity, but that is. That is an excuse that people use to try to say they’re treated unfairly.” said Lara
“But if turns out the way it did for the fired officers in Edinburg… including the union president… Lara will get his job back and set the stage for a lawsuit.” said Dolcefino.
“I got to tell you; I’ve looked at the DPS now. I don’t know why this guy ever became a police chief. Javier Lara, it had to have been political. we had very; very good candidates apply for our job.” said Dolcefino.
“I don’t even understand how somebody like that would be considered to be in law enforcement anymore, much less be promoted to a police chief of a city.” said his former trooper.
“The TMPA has now sent this warning letter to mission city officials after Lawrence says he was denied a chance to speak to council the night we were there.” said Dolcefino.
“Ignoring this is not neutrality it is complicity… that is not transparency. that is avoidance.” said Dolcefino.
“And the state police union want an independent investigation… we agree. if not… the union could sue… mission taxpayers may price the price.” said Dolcefino.
“We think the first amendment lawsuit for what the chief is doing is the only way to bring these facts to light and force the commission to do something.” said Dolcefino.
