Police chief's older brother retires after nearly 35 years on the force

Each retirement is a "family" loss for the Tucson Police Department. But there was one goodbye that Villaseñor, who has been police chief for one year, found exceptionally difficult in the department's tight family.

The chief handed his older brother, Augustine, his retirement badge and ID card on May 27, ending nearly 35 years on the force.

"I didn't try to prepare," Chief Villaseñor said Thursday afternoon, sitting alongside his brother at a cafe. "I knew it was going to be tough."

The tough guys' eyes welled up when the Villaseñor brothers tightly embraced during a poignant ceremony at the department's west-side substation at West Miracle Mile and North Flowing Wells Road. They were not the only officers to shed bittersweet tears that morning.

"It was a flood of memories. We've been through thick and thin," said Augie Villaseñor.

The elder Villaseñor, 56, was one of 11 officers who received their retirement credentials at the ceremony. One of the officers was my brother, Mario Alberto Portillo, who retired after 28 years as a patrol officer.

Altogether, 17 officers retired last month, representing an average of 26 years each for a cumulative total 444 years of service to the community, Capt. Carla Johnson told the retiring officers' co-workers, families and friends.

That's a whole lotta years, which explained the abundance of melancholy and laughter fromthe retiring cops and the still-employed officers.

Augie Villaseñor reminisced about his years on city streets - before the days of computers in patrol cars and hand-held radios - and as a training officer for nearly 30 years. He joked about a special assignment on Miracle Mile, some years back involving soiled doves, which he could not fully explain but for which he apologized to his mother, Edna Villaseñor, who was present along with his two sisters.

But there were many tense and dangerous nights in Augie Villaseñor's years. One night in 1995 he apprehended a suspect and pinned her to his vehicle when a second suspect emerged from the house with a weapon - pointed at an officer who was unaware of the drawn weapon.

Villaseñor shot the suspect dead.

"He saved a police officer's life," said Roberto Villaseñor, 51, who was a captain at the time.

When the call about the shooting reached Roberto Villaseñor, he raced to the scene to be with his brother. He didn't go as a captain.

"He was there as my brother," said Augie Villaseñor.

The brothers grew up in a close family with their two sisters and parents. Their father, Agustin Villaseñor, was a shoe cobbler, the son of a Mexican immigrant.

While attending Palo Verde High School and after graduating, they worked with their father, who owned two shoe-repair shops.

That was to be their future, according to their father. But while working at the shop, Augie Villaseñor met a number of police officers, who had discovered his father's skill at repairing well-worn soles and making holsters.

His intrigue led to his hiring in August 1976 when he was 22 years old. His brother followed in October 1980 when he was 21.

They remained close even as their paths diverged. Augie Villaseñor remained content to be a street cop while his brother rose to top cop.

While on the force, older brother was not shy about telling his younger sibling what's what.

"If he thought I was wrong," the chief said, "he'd tell me."

But at the end of a career, Augie Villaseñor had a few clear words to share about his younger brother, directed at his fellow cops at the retirement ceremony. He reprised the words he shared last month:

"I know where his heart is and I know where he is taking this department," Augie Villaseñor said. "His best interest is the department, not himself."

Ernesto Portillo Jr. is editor of La Estrella de Tucsón. He can be reached at netopjr@azstarnet.com or 573-4197.