Escalon residents are invited to come and welcome their new Police Chief to town, as Mike Borges will be officially sworn in to office on Monday, July 14.

The ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 2060 McHenry Ave., with the new chief scheduled to take the oath of office and receive his ‘chief’ badge.

Former Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden, who has been serving as Interim Chief, encouraged the community to turn out.

“This would be a great way for them to meet their new chief,” he said.

The selection of Borges to take over as the city’s fulltime police chief was approved by a 5-0 vote of council members and he comes to Escalon with 34 years of law enforcement experience. He has had several different positions, all with the Ceres Police Department, including police officer, detective, field training officer, watch commander, sergeant and Police Division Commander, eventually named Deputy Chief for Ceres in 2007.

Harden said the ceremony is planned for late afternoon so members of the Borges family, including his grown children with their own families, can attend the swearing in and badge pinning.

“I’m thrilled we got someone of his quality,” Mayor Ed Alves said of the appointment.

Borges will oversee the department of a half dozen officers, a sergeant and the police services manager, as well as the animal control department.