Hernandez says ‘see you later’ to her time in the MPD

Moulton Police Officer Irene Hernandez sent in her resignation to the Moulton Police Department. (MPD).

She has served over a year with the MPD said this is a bittersweet moment. “I started back in August of last year,” Hernandez said. “I did do patrol and task forces. That was called the ‘Lone Star Fugitive’ for the State of Texas. I also assisted Police Chief Daniel Beyer with a lot of paperwork. We wore a lot of hats there. I am proud of the time I have had in Moulton. I made great community relations with the City of Moulton as well as the students here. I think that’s the hardest thing, leaving my community that I made such great relationships with.”

Hernandez lives in Seguin. “It was approximately over an hour to get to Moulton,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been doing the drive for over a year and it was a little far for me. My grandmother was sick and I needed to be closer to home. She did passed away unfortunately. Chief Beyer helped me a lot and carried me through a lot of my trauma and stuff that was going on in my home life. He was very understanding when I did decide to leave. He gave me a lot of time with my grandmother. I’m very grateful and I knew I had angels on my side and Chief Beyer is one of those. I am going to Uhland Police Department and it’s probably about 20 minutes away from my residence. I’m grateful and I’m going to miss Moulton and if I could move Moulton closer to Seguin, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Hernandez will be training to be a detective as well as working on patrol in Uhland. “It’s always been a goal of mine to be an investigator,” Hernandez said. “I love patrolling, don’t get me wrong, but I do like to be able to see the outcome of some of my cases. Sometimes, you can’t do that while on patrol.”

Hernandez said she will miss how loving everybody was in Moulton and how much support people had for the police officers. “I never met an enemy out there,” Hernandez said. “If you were driving down Moulton, people were just waving. I will also miss the students, they have a heart of gold. I’m going to miss seeing them at their lunch time and getting hugs from them.”

One of the things Hernandez hopes to bring to her next position is the opportunity for learning more. “I hope I can learn a lot more,” Hernandez said. “I also have a lot of knowledge in mental health as well and I hope I can pursue that out there. I know there’s not a lot of resources for mental health and I hope I can take that with me.”

Hernandez has always wanted to be in law enforcement.

“I have wanted to be a police officer since I was a little girl,” Hernandez said.“My family was always in the military and I think very highly of my aunts and uncles that served. I did want to leave for the military, but that wasn’t in the cards. I knew and have in my heart that police work was my calling.”

One advice Hernandez wants to give for officers just starting their careers is to keep going. “You’re going to have those hard calls,” Hernandez said. “But you’ll also come across calls where you’re going to realize why you have this job in your heart. There’s a reason why we wear our badge on the left side, that’s because it’s closest to our heart. To do this job, that’s what you have to keep in mind. You have to have this job in your heart. Keep going and keep your head up.”

Hernandez hopes Moulton will remember a friendly face like hers. She said she truly loves the community and that this isn’t a goodbye, but a “see you later.”