A familiar face is at the helm of the Gustine Police Department at least for the time being.

Sgt. Frank Martinez has been appointed the acting police chief after Sam Joseph had to tender his resignation unexpectedly. Joseph was serving as the interim police chief while Ruben Chavez is out for medical leave.

Martinez’s role as acting chief could end in November if Chavez is cleared to return, said Gustine City Manager Soknirorn Than. If the leave is continued then the City is already in the works of finding another interim chief that could step in, Than said.

“We’re hoping it will all be resolved very soon when Chief Chavez returns, but in case that is longer, we do have a contingency plan in place,” Tran said.

Martinez is serving as a “working chief,” meaning in addition to his administrative responsibilities he also is responding to calls for service so that there isn’t too much of a burden placed on the other officers.

“Both Chief Chavez and Chief Joseph have built us a strong reserve officer program,” Tran said. “the service level provided by our police department has not changed.”

Joseph had been serving as the interim chief for the majority of this year and his contract took him to the end of the year. But he had to tender his resignation on Oct. 7 and make it effective immediately because of a family emergency.

Joseph previously served as a lieutenant with the department until his retirement.