HOUSTON-- Cecil Mosqueda is about to walk away from more than four decades of wearing the badge for the Houston Police Department.
"It's been my whole life,” said Mosqueda. "And it is a hard decision I think for any officer. Not just me. Any officer if they love the work they're doing."
Mosqueda's work includes his service on HPD's Chicano Squad formed after the Moody Park Riots. He spent the last 37 years as a homicide detective and decided to leave now out of fear of losing some of his pension benefits.
"That had something to do with it but every officer has their individual reasons to retire."
KHOU 11 News has learned that a higher number of officers have filed for retirement ever since Mayor Turner announced a pension reform compromise. The new plan which could take effect next July, promises to make the system solvent at the cost of a decrease in some benefits.
Ray Hunt is the president of the Houston Police Officers' Union.
"We've seen a spike of about 50 people when compared to last year from this same time period," said Hunt. "I've been alarmed for a long time since we were 800 to 1500 officers short. This is going to be another spike of a couple hundred. Yes, it's going to affect some investigations."
But the city's newly sworn-in police chief supports the reforms, and says public safety will not be impacted.
"I don't foresee a huge exodus of 2000 people,” said HPD Chief Art Acevedo. “I think there will be folks who will retire. Like I said earlier, they have to do what's right for their families."
And that’s what Mosqueda has done.
"But I know as I leave the department that I did the best job,” said Mosqueda.