TIJUANA – Mayor Carlos Bustamante fired the city’s police chief Tuesday and named Jesús Alberto Capella to lead the 2,200 municipal force, it was announced at a mid-day press conference.

Capt. Gustavo Huerta Martínez had been Secretary of Public Safety since November, when Bustamente assumed the mayor’s office.

Capella is returning to a post he held for a little more than a year under the previous city administration. He was removed amid waves of deadly violence that prompted state authorities to assign military officers to lead the municipal force.

The change in police leadership is occurring at a time the pace of homicides related to organized crime is surging; ironically one of the reasons Capella was fired.

Capella’s arrival returns to civilian hands the most important law enforcement job in the city.

He survived an assassination attempt on Nov. 27, 2007, a month before his first stint as Secretary of Public Safety.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com