WATSONVILLE—Four new officers, including two that grew up in Watsonville and graduated from Pajaro Valley High School, have recently joined the Watsonville Police Department and are in uniform and on the streets.
Edgar Rivera-Aguilar, Nico DeVillires, Nancy Villicana and Mathew Morales are now in the field training phase of becoming full-time officers.
“I want to work with the community and for the community in every way that I can,” Villicana, of Salinas, said.
Born and raised in Watsonville and a Pajaro Valley High School graduate, Rivera-Aguilar said he is looking forward to helping out the city he grew up in.
A Morgan Hill native with experience in corrections, DeVillires, said “I just want to help our community and take the bad guys off the street.”
Morales, also a Watsonville native and a graduate of Pajaro Valley High School, said he already served two years with Santa Cruz Police Department and looks forward to moving over to WPD.
“I feel like it’s a career where you’re able to directly affect people’s lives,” Morales said. “It’s nice to be the person that people call when things go wrong. So it feels good to be the one who responds and directly helps someone.”
Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for Watsonville Police, said the addition now brings the department to 72 employees, with the end goal being 74.
