By L. Anne Newell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/10630CHIEFFIRED.html

The city of Nogales has hired a new police chief - and his list of priorities include undoing much of his predecessor's work.

John Kissinger took over for Victor Marmion on Monday morning.

"My immediate goals are to get back into touch with the community and start working with them on some of the issues they have," he said Friday.

That includes reintroducing DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - and GREAT - Gang Resistance Education and Training - to schools, redeploying school resource officers and again offering police traffic control at special events such as large funerals and sidewalk sales, he said.

Kissinger said he also wants to reduce the number of outstanding warrants the city has, 90 percent of which he estimated are for traffic violations.

"Nogales is a very safe place to live," he said. "We just want to continue to make it safer."

Kissinger, a Nogales native, has worked for the department 20 years and held its every rank.

He could not address why Marmion was replaced or how long he was in office, referring questions to the city manager.

City Manager H. Sue Neilsen was unavailable and Human Resources Director Mayra Zuniga said she could not address Marmion's departure. She said, though, that he was under a six-month probation, as are all new city employees.