How Sheriff Solano became involved with Billy the Kid.

When I first ran for Sheriff in 1998 I never thought that an issue I would deal with would involve Billy the Kid. It wasn't in 1998 when I lost my first run for Sheriff but actually in 2002 when I ran that I was first brought into the legend of Billy the Kid.

During my campaign for sheriff I met a woman who befriended my wife and I and began helping me in my run for office. I credit her with a lot of the success of the 2002 campaign. A lot of people think that there must always be ulterior motives or someone helps in a political campaign just because they want a job. But that is not always the case. This woman is very active in political campaigns just because she chooses candidates she believes in and works to get them elected. She chose me and I have been honored ever since. At the end of my campaign for sheriff and when it was all said and done I ended up with a campaign debt of thousands of dollars. When you end up with a campaign debt it means you paid the money out of your own pocket, not usually that there are creditors waiting to get paid.

A young lawyer had moved to Santa Fe from out of state and was making the social and political rounds and was making a name for himself. He was donating to political campaigns during the 2002 elections. He had a multi state law firm that must do well as he seemed to do well financially for himself. The woman who helped my campaign had met him and convinced him to throw a party at his office to help raise money to clear my campaign debt. It was a small wine and cheese get together at his downtown office and my campaign debt was cleared. Once again I was greatly appreciative of all her help and I found a new friend in that attorney, Bill Robins.

I ran during the year that Governor Bill Richardson was swept into office on a groundswell of support. While he may have his problems now in 2010 in 2002 it was a different story. As I ran breathless and exhausted from political event to political event, he floated from event to event on the shoulders of thousands of supporters. Unions, State workers, Democrats, Republicans, Women, Men, Anglos, Hispanics all groups supported him and enthusiastically swept him into office. One of his campaign contributors was also Attorney Bill Robins who became my friend. But the truth is Richardson was a master at raising money and almost everyone who ever gave to political campaigns gave to Richardson.

I truly believe it was not a favor for the donation and fundraiser, but about a year later Bill Robins and I were having dinner and he asked me what I thought about a pardon for Billy the Kid. Now I read a lot but mostly modern day biography's, fiction, and anything news related. The only thing I really knew about Billy the Kid came from watching the movie Young Guns. Sometime around 1987 the movie was being filmed in Santa Fe and my wife Antoinette got Lou Diamond Phillups autograph at a now defunct nightclub in Santa Fe called Mr. R's. All she had at the time was a bar tab receipt borrowed from a waitress and a pencil to get the autograph. In 1988 we were invited to the Santa Fe Premiere of the movie at the old Lensic theater. It was the source of just about all I ever knew of Billy the Kid.

Lou Diamond Phillups Autograph and our invitation to the Young Guns Premier.

Well at that dinner Bill Robins told me a story about how Billy the Kid was not all the legend made him out to be. It was a long story and the basics of it can be found here. Now I have found out that there are a lot of versions of his life and how many people he killed and whether he was fighting for justice as a deputy in the Lincoln county wars or whether he was a cold blooded killer. If you have about 20 minutes to read the above link it is a very interesting story of his life and exploits. Keep in mind as you read it that other versions of his story are out there as well. The basics is that Billy the kid claimed he witnessed the murder of an attorney Huston Chapman however some claimed he took part in the murder. By this time Billy the Kid was already wanted for murder related to the Lincoln County Wars and the Governor Lew Wallace wanted the murderers brought to justice. Billy the kid contacted the governor by mail and offered to testify in return for a pardon on his outstanding warrants for murder. The following was taken from the above link with one of the stories of Billy's life.

On March 13, 1879 the Kid wrote to the governor and offered to testify against Chapman’s murderers in exchange to have his indictments annulled. The governor wrote back inviting the Kid to meet with him. In his letter to the Kid, he wrote, “I have authority to exempt you from prosecution if you will testify to what you say you know,” and he closed with: “If you could trust Jesse Evans, you can trust me.”

On March 17th, the Kid met the governor in Lincoln. During the meeting, Governor Lew Wallace made the promise the Kid had hoped for. The governor stated clearly, that if the Kid testified in court, that “in return for you’re doing this, I will let you go scot-free with a pardon in your pocket for all your misdeeds.” The agreement was made. The Kid would submit to a fake arrest, testify against Chapman’s killers, James Dolan and Colonel Dudley, for a full pardon. A couple days later, the Kid and Tom O’Folliard surrendered to Sheriff Kimbrell as planned and were confined at Patron’s store. The governor interviewed the Kid by asking him about the Rustlers’ hideouts and about the rustling activities in the territory. The Kid held nothing back and told everything that Governor Wallace wanted to know.

The following month the Kid began his court appearances, but due to the fact that Judge Bristol and prosecutor William Rynerson were Dolan men, the defendants were either pardoned under the governor’s proclamation or acquitted. Surprisingly O'Folliard was even given amnesty, but the Kid wasn't so lucky. The Kid's enemies were dead set on not letting him get away. The biggest threat to the Kid was prosecutor attorney William Rynerson, who not only wouldn't go along with the governor's bargain with the Kid, but got a change of venue to Dona Ana County for the Kid's trial. So instead of being tried in Lincoln where the Kid would be acquitted, he would be put on trial in a very bias courtroom where he didn't stand a chance. But that wasn’t the Kid’s only problem, the governor wasn’t making good his promise of a pardon, probably due to the lack of cooperation from Rynerson, so left the Kid to his fate, while he went back to Santa Fe to finish his book Ben Hur. After all, to Wallace, the Kid was just an outlaw -so who cares?

So Billy the kid was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. He never received his promised pardon. According to one of the stories he felt betrayed and rather than face death he escaped and killed a deputy during the escape. Thus began his cat and mouse game with newly elected Sheriff Pat Garrett who eventually killed him. Attorney Bill Robins also told me about a legend that Billy the Kid may not have been killed after all but instead lived a long life under the alias of Brushy Bill Roberts. Some wanted to exhume body's and do DNA testing to see if Billy the Kid really did finish out his life as Brushy Bill Roberts. Bill Robins was very interested in the life of Billy the Kid and was talking to Governor Richardson about pardoning Billy the Kid and giving him the promise Governor Lew Wallace broke when he was found guilty and sentenced to hang.

Bill Robins wanted to know how I felt about the whole thing. I told him that being a law enforcement officer all my adult life I could not publicly support the pardon. He told me he had hoped to have a trial which would allow a mock jury to make the decision and give a new look at the old cases. I told him that once again while I could not support the pardon I would not publicly oppose it either. He was happy with that since he was most worried about huge opposition from law enforcement.

It made national news when Bill Robins got as far as getting appointed by Governor Richardson to represent Billy the Kids interests as his attorney in looking at a pardon and even though a new trial was promised it has not happened. The whole Billy the kid thing kind of went away during the rest of Richardson's term and Bill Robins married and seemed to go on to other endeavors including children. I also forgot about Billy the Kid as well.

On October 1, 2009 I was invited to unveil a plaque marking the site of the jail that held Billy the Kid in Santa Fe for three months in 1880-1881. I was joined by the mayor and the Grandson of Sheriff Pat Garrett, J.P. Garrett. It was a fun event and meeting the Grandson of Sheriff Pat Garrett was an honor. I gave him a small Sheriff's Badge Pin from the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office. Last week he contacted me as the push for Governor Richardson to pardon Billy the Kid has again made the news and the Governor appears as though he is ready to consider it again as he leaves office. J.P. Garrett asked me to sign a petition which the Garrett family was going to send to the Governor along with a letter from the Garrett family asking the Governor to not pardon Billy the Kid.

Once again I remembered my promise to my friend to not get involved in this issue so I explained to J.P. Garrett that I had agreed to not get involved and I would abide by that decision. I have no doubt that Billy the Kid murdered a Sheriff and several others. Whether he felt he had no choice or not he did still commit murder. However, if he was promised a pardon for his testimony in the Chapman murder there is a lot to be said for the pardon of his crimes up to that point. Then there are those who say that if he had received the pardon he would not have had to escape jail and kill others during the escape and manhunts that followed. Billy the Kid claimed he wanted to come clean and live a clean life after he was pardoned. Whether he really could have done that or whether he would have just continued in a life of crime after being pardoned is something we will never know.

I have read a lot lately about the Lincoln County wars and the truth is New Mexico truly was the wild wild west where corruption and murder were the name of the game. Sheriff's were corrupt and the "rings" as they were called controlled the law, the government, and controlled New Mexico. It has made me appreciate even more the responsibility of being Sheriff. I often think back to my discussions with movie star Burt Reynolds whose father was a Sheriff. He once asked me " do you know how you can tell an honest sheriff?" No I answered, how? "He is a broke sheriff." he said with a smile. While I am not broke, I lead a modest but good life.

Albuquerque Journal North Endorses Undersheriff Robert Garcia

Undersheriff Robert Garcia was endorsed in Sundays Albuquerque Journal North. The editor was kind to our administration and I was honored to be cast in the same light of former Sheriff's Benjie Montano and Ray Sisneros. Both were excellent sheriff''s who left a legacy for me to follow. Below is the endorsement Be sure and get out and vote as early voting has begun. At the end of this article are the early voting times and locations.

Albuquerque Journal North Edition
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Garcia Best Choice for Sheriff


Santa Fe County has been fortunate to have had a whole string — two decades worth, in fact — of competent sheriffs. And maybe even more — we're just casting back as far as former Sheriff Benjie Montaño's first term in office. Montaño served two terms and then worked to get his Undersheriff Ray Sisneros elected. That happened, but when Sisneros decided not to run for a second term, he cleared the way for a wide-open race in 2002, which was won by Greg Solano.

This election cycle, it's Solano who's out under the term limit rule, and true to form (or custom, or whatever it is), he's supporting his Undersheriff Robert Garcia as his successor.

Garcia has three challengers, but his campaign theme, predictably, has been to stress that he's the only one of the four who is poised to take over the department with no on-the-job training required.

And, predictably, he stresses that what he and Solano have been doing to combat Santa Fe's two high-profile crimes — burglary and DWI — is working. The other three candidates talk about what they would do if elected, says Garcia, but he can talk about "what we are doing" to address these problems.

Garcia's critics grouse about morale in the department and say promotions don't proceed fairly, but they're short on specifics.

Garcia's got the more persuasive argument, backed by facts. He notes that burglary rates in the county are down compared with the city, where police have brought down the numbers only to see them shoot right back up to record levels.

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department fields more DWI officers than any other law enforcement agency in northern New Mexico, according to Garcia, and by emphasizing roadblocks and saturation patrols has made driving safer.

Another plus, the sheriff's office under Solano has been consistently forthcoming with information about criminal investigations and everything else, and Garcia has been the point man in the department's communication with the media and the public.

Garcia says he won't change what works. A 30-year law enforcement veteran, he's certainly qualified for the job. But it's his record as Solano's chief deputy that should be most reassuring to voters — despite the national mood, change isn't always the best option.

As with so many local races here in el norte, there is no Republican on the ballot in November, so the winner of the June 1 Democratic primary is a shoo-in.

The Journal recommends Garcia as the best choice for Santa Fe County sheriff.

Early Voting is held on Tuesday – Friday from 12 Noon until 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

The locations of Early Voting sites are:

Santa Fe County Fairgrounds – 3229 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe
El Dorado Senior Center – 14 Avenida Torreon, El Dorado
Edgewood Fire Station – 25 E. Frontage Road, Edgewood
Pojoaque County Satellite Office – 5W. Gutierrez, Pojoaque
Santa Cruz – 153 Camino De Quintana, Espanola
Santa Fe County Clerk’s office, 102 Grant Avenue, Santa Fe

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Santa Fe County Sheriff's Race Forum

The Democratic Party of Santa Fe County held a forum on March 17, 2010 for all candidates running to replace me as Sheriff in the June Primary. I still get asked a lot why I am not running again, New Mexico has term limits on the Sheriff as well as all county officials. A sheriff can only serve two terms and then must sit out a term before he or she can run again. While I have made it clear on this blog I am supporting Undersheriff Robert A. Garcia in the race I still want to congratulate all the candidates on a good job. It takes a lot to run for office and you and your families are in for some trying times and some fun times. I commend all of you for putting yourself out there and opening you lives to intense scrutiny in order to do something you believe in.

The Forum was cordial and differences between most of the candidates answers were hard to find. The main difference was that candidates Tafoya, Doerfer, and Dalton were talking about what they would do while Garcia talked about what he had done. Tafoya often referred to his job in Bernallilo County where he works as a deputy. Tafoya a former Santa Fean, has moved back to Santa Fe a few months ago from Rio Rancho in order to run in this race. Doerfer often referred to his military and former sheriff's experience in answering questions while Dalton told short stories about his life during his answers. Undersheriff Garcia often had to remind the candidates that most of what they were proposing was already being done in the Sheriff's Office.

Below are videos of each candidates opening statements.

Undersheriff Robert A. Garcia

Candidate Rex Doerfer

Candidate Rubel Tafoya

Candidate Charlie Dalton

Ohio Sheriff Gets Flak for Possible Congressional Run

Republican Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones is getting flak from his own party as he announces he is considering running against House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Sheriff Jones has long been an outspoken Sheriff in illegal immigration issues and has even put up billboards warning employers against hiring illegal immigrants. In an interview with The Politico Sheriff Jones is quoted “The party is in the toilet and in the wilderness. I don’t know where they’re going. Being an incumbent in Washington is not really the best thing right now,” Jones said.










Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones


Rep John Boehner has not faced serious opposition since he was elected in 1990 and Sheriff Jones would be the toughest opponent he has ever had. Sheriff Jones is considered strong in name recognition and well liked in his county who's population encompasses half the congressional district. However, the Sheriff is getting serious opposition from leaders in his own party who feel the Sheriff is premature in challenging Rep. Boehner. They feel the Sheriff should wait it out and run for the position when Rep. Boehner is ready to retire. Party leaders feel a primary battle can only hurt the Sheriff's Standing in the party. The Sheriff is not afraid to challenge conventional Republican Politicos, He once took out an ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer accusing Republican presidential nominee John McCain of being weak on immigration.
























House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)

This will be an interesting race to watch however the race may never materialize. The Sheriff at this point says he is looking into whether he can raise enough money and support to take on the congressional seat. I think the Ohio Republican party will do all it can to assure the support and money is not found.

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KOB TV News Story on Sheriff's County Wide Alert System

Here is Gadi Schwartz from KOB TV News telling viewers about Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office new Emergency Alert System.







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Sheriffs Office Launches Emergency Alert System

Sheriff Greg Solano reports that The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is launching an Emergency Alert System in conjunction with Nixle.com. It is a free service that allows Santa Fe County residents to receive trusted up to the minute neighborhood information for citizens through out Santa Fe County. Those who sign up for the service at www.santafesheriff.com will receive notices sent out by the sheriff’s office through text message, twitter accounts, email, and via the Sheriff’s alert web page.


The service will include up to date alerts on traffic delays, missing persons, disasters, crime information such as suspect vehicles, warnings on crime sprees, public safety alerts, and News Releases. The service will also include up to date information on the swine flu epidemic as it pertains to Santa Fe County.


Citizens will be able to enter addresses of particular concern to them such as their home address, work address, family members etc. Once you log in with your home address you can add multiple address’s by going to (Locations) and click to Add New. When the Sheriffs office sends out alerts they are categorized as county wide alerts or area specific. If we are trying to warn of a particular crime prevalent in a specific area of the county then the alert may only be sent to those living or working in that area. Broader alerts would be directed towards the entire county. The citizens who sign up will not be subjected to spam or advertisements and strict confidentiality of their information will be adhered to. The service is completely free of charge.


Sheriff Greg Solano states “We were working on launching this system in the next few weeks however due to the swine flu epidemic we have rushed to launch the system sooner. I encourage all citizens in the county to sign up for the alerts and take advantage of this great system. Sheriff Solano has been in contact with the State Health Department and together with our Santa Fe County Office of Emergency Management we are monitoring the one possible but unconfirmed case of swine flu in Santa Fe County and will monitor for any other possible cases in Santa Fe County. Alerts will be sent out via the Sheriffs Emergency Alert System described above.

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Should Police Chiefs Be Elected?

The last time I titled a blog post with a question it created quite a stir. Oh, well I am going to start this blog with a question also. I started as a police officer in 1988 after being hired as a rookie by the Santa Fe City Police Department. The chief of police at the time was Raymond Sisneros also a former Sheriff. He left about 2 years later and became Undersheriff for Sheriff Benjie Montano who is now the soon to retire Deputy Chief of the Santa Fe Police Department.

Next to take the chiefs position was Chief Bobby Lucero who lasted by my memory a little under 4 years. Debbie Jaramillo was elected Mayor in 1994 and Chief Lucero learned his fate after Newly elected Mayor Jaramillo announced on a morning radio talk show that he was fired. An outsider was then brought in as Chief. Chief Donald Grady was brought in during the summer of 1994. Chief Grady was Santa Fe's first black Chief of Police and quickly became controversial not for his race but for his inability to relate to the officers who served under him. It was during this controversial period that I lost the presidency of the police union to an anti Grady faction who used racial overtones to create divisions in the police force. Now I was not pro Grady but I did not agree with my opponents tactics to get rid of Chief Grady. Chief Grady lasted less than 2 years resigning in February of 1996. I left the city police in 1995 and went into private business. The Grady years and my departure from the city police could fill a couple of other blog posts.














Chief Donald Grady

Mayor Jaramillo was not happy with her Chief being driven from the Police Department. The City Police Officers and the Mayor were always at odds and the line officers truly felt the Mayor hated cops and Chief Grady was sent to punish them. Mayor Jaramillo then appointed her brother in law Carlos Jaramillo to the Chiefs Position. Now the initial appointment only served to enrage officers even more and led the media and others to dub Santa Fe Jaramillo Ville. The mayors brother was city manager and now her brother in law was chief. A local radio station started the name by playing a rendition of the song Margarita Ville in which the lyrics were changed to read, "Wastin away again in Jaramillo Ville". I wish I had a copy of the song which was one of the most hilarious parody's I have ever heard. I made a little money during this time selling buttons which had a picture of the sign outside city hall with the "Santa Fe" removed and "Jaramillo Ville" in its place.















Chief John Denko

Chief Jaramillo actually was a laid back get along with the officers kind of guy and he faired much better as chief than anyone initially thought he would. When Mayor Jaramillo lost her re-election bid in 1998 Chief Jaramillo left soon after. The new Mayor Larry Delgado replaced Chief Jaramillo with Chief John Denko in 1999. Former Chief Denko is now the Governors Cabinet Secretary for D.P.S. . He left in 2003 with a little less than four years as Chief.















Chief Beverly Lennen

Beverly Lennen was the next chief to take the helm at the City of Santa Fe Police, becoming the first woman chief in the history of the City of Santa Fe Police Department in 2003. Unmentioned in my previous paragraphs was the fact that Beverly Lennen served as interim chief on several occasions in between many of the chiefs appointments which I described above. Chief Lennen lasted until February of 2006 lasting a few months over 3 years. Finally we get to Chief Eric Johnson, Appointed in 2006 by newly elected Mayor David Coss. Chief Johnson has just announced his retirement which will come on May 29th 2009.





















Chief Eric Johnson

I just went through all that to get you to this point. Do you see a pattern here? No chief has lasted a day beyond 4 years during my institutional memory which goes back twenty one years (man I am old ). Now a mayors term lasts 4 years and many are re-elected meaning a possibility of up to eight years serving as chief. Santa Fe Chiefs however do not last. Why is that?

As I look back on the chiefs over the last 20 years there is one very common factor. They are all retired or near retirement. Most candidates will not accept the job of chief unless they are within a year or two of minimum retirement years. This ensures that if they are fired they can just retire. Even with that as a fallback most chiefs in recent years also enter into a contract which says that they can revert to their previous rank should the mayor wish to remove them for any reason except out right malfeasance in office.

Next we must look at the stresses of a City Police Chief. The police chief is clearly a political appointee hired by the Mayor. This ties their job to that of the Mayor. As long as the Mayor remains and supports the Chief, the Chief should stay. However the Chief still has many more supervisors. There is the City Manager, Eight City Councilors, and the Mayor. The Chief must answer to all of them while still answering directly to the public. Imagine answering to ten bosses all wanting attention for the needs of their district. Some of them maybe don't like you just because you are the mayors pick and maybe they are not happy with the mayor or the city manager. Maybe they ran for mayor and lost, or maybe they want to run for mayor and their success may depend upon your failure. Seems like a tough job?

Now lets compare this to the Sheriff. A Sheriff is elected to a four year term by the citizens and the Sheriff ultimately answers only to them. This places the Sheriff on equal footing with the County Commission in that they need the Sheriff to help with concerns in their district just as much as the Sheriff needs the Commissioners for his or her needs such as budgetary and passing ordinances and other needs. The County Manager also needs the Sheriff just as much as the Sheriff needs him. They are all on pretty much equal footing and the need for each other creates a mutual respect whether real or political. I throw that in because regardless of the actual respect the individuals may or may not have for each other, for political reasons their is a need to display to the public the semblance of getting along and respect for the citizens sake.

I also believe that because the Sheriff is elected he or she is more responsive to the media and public relations concerns than a Chief may be because he needs to be sure what he or she is says to the media will meet the approval of the Mayor, City Manager, and eight councilors.

So, what if the Chief of Police was elected? Would we retain chiefs longer, I believe the answer to that is yes. What does that accomplish? It would accomplish more continuity in the chiefs position and less controversy in appointments. I also believe it could allow a chief to spend more time being responsive to the public concerns and less time dealing with city hall. An elected chief would have to be more responsive to the public and during election time lay out a plan for law enforcement in the city. In between elections citizens would decide how well the chief lived up to the campaign promises and the plans laid out during the campaign. Whether percieved or real the meddling accusations against councilors and mayors should be eliminated or greatly decreased. Now this is just an idea thrown out there by a Sheriff who stays up to late at night thinking about things like this and the likelihood of this ever occurring is next to zero. Yet I think it is an interesting concept that deserves some attention.

There are those who say that the Mayor would never give up control of law enforcement because it is one of the basic functions of government. Yet there are even benefits to mayors and city councilors. Having a separate elected police chief would allow the fellow elected councilors and mayor to just point their finger at another elected official when crime issues arise. A quick google search led me to one campaign site where the chief is elected in San Angelo Texas. I also found an editorial in Los Angeles which discusses electing the Los Angeles Police Chief.

A good example of how the public might feel about this issue occurred several years ago when Bernalillo County and The City of Albuquerque presented a proposal to voters to merge the two governments into one metro government. The issue that was most debated and was credited with the defeat of the proposal was that the elected sheriff would be done away with and a police chief would rule over all the new metro government law enforcement. Of course the sheriff spoke out in opposition and the public voted the proposal down. The idea of re-hashing the proposal with an elected sheriff overseeing all law enforcement never quite gained ground and the proposal was never brought up again. Maybe that is a solution to discuss in another blog post, the combining of city and county government in Santa Fe. Of course with an elected sheriff for law enforcement :-) .

So there is an idea thrown out there for debate, criticism, or laughter, I am not sure I even fully agree with the idea as I have not spent enough time hashing out the true details. And as it has often been said the devil is in the details.

What do you think? Vote below.


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My Take on Interesting bills introduced in the Legislature.

I spent my first few hours at the legislature on Tuesday as myself and numerous other Sheriff's from across the state traveled to the roundhouse to appear at committee hearings on bills which were of interest to Sheriffs. Some of these included the following.

A bill the New Mexico Sheriffs Affiliate of the New Mexico Association of Counties is supporting is one which would allow two term limited Sheriff's to run for three terms before becoming term limited. This is a compromise after years of unsuccessful attempts to remove term limits for Sheriff's. If you were not aware I am on the second and final term of office and will be removed as Sheriff by the state constitution. The term limits are in the State Constitution and if changes to it are passed in the legislature it will still have to go to a statewide vote as a constitutional amendment.

I don't have much hope in this passing but I believe it would be a good bill. I truly believe that the voters are the best term limit option and as New Mexico is only one of a handful of states that has term limits for Sheriff's it places us in a position of losing good people who have great experience. I can tell you from experience that the first four years go fast and it takes a good three years to get things going smoothly and any major projects which involve large amounts of funding can take most of your two terms to come to fruition. As a side note I would not benefit from this bill should it be passed by both the legislature and the voters. I also think its interesting that the legislature has passed term limit laws for all county elected officials and all state county officials with few exemptions. What are those exemptions? The District Attorney, Judges, and of course, State legislators.

Another slate of bills being watched closely by Sheriff's and counties are those that help counties whom are bearing the huge costs of keeping state prisoners in county jails, and bills that require the state to transport their own prisoners to courts and hearings. As it is now Sheriff's must send deputies to transport prisoners to court hearings and other legal proceedings. This pulls hundreds of deputies off the streets and sends them to transport prisoners which are completely the responsibility of the State. It is a huge cost and burden to local jurisdictions.

A very important set of bills which have little chance of passing in today's economic times is one which requires the state to set up psychiatric and mental health facilities and programs in the state. As we all remember from the recent cases of John Hyde and Cho Seung-Hui the Virginia Tech Killer. Both had brushes with the mental health systems in their states and both states failed them and their eventual solution was mass murder.

New Mexico needs to expand our mental health system and provide expanded in patient care. The waiting lists are too long and continued outpatient care is lacking in resources and funding. those in need of constant care and monitoring need a system that provides that care as well as funds the care. Many mentally ill individuals are unable to hold down jobs especially with out assistance and monitoring to ensure they are taking their medications. Going back to the Johnson administration we have cut and underfunded mental health facilities and programs. New Mexico needs to invest in these programs and begin to be proactive in preventing these kinds of deaths. It is unfortunate that those monies were not spent in the past years where the states coffers overflowed with oil and gas money.

As I was looking over the countless number of bills bieng presented one caught my eye if only for the sanctions bieng proposed. Our own Santa Fe Freshman Representative Brian Egolf intoduced a bill which will prevent wasteful government printing and mailing of annual reports, calendars, updates, etc. The bill states that there shall be no unsolicited mailing of bound materials in excess of five pages by any state agency, division, board, commission, etc. There is also a penalty for a violation of the law - any cabinet secretary or division director who violates the law will get a ten percent salary reduction.

WOW, imagine if we expanded that idea to all kinds of laws. If the Governor or legislator conducts a ethics violation maybe we can fine them ten percent of thier salaries or per diem. Maybe if a reporter or member of the media makes a mistake or misquotes an elected official they would pay ten percent of thier salaries fine to the state. The state could use this money to overcome the deficit. Ok, Ok, I jest but really is this a serious bill? I like Brian Egolf and his ideas to conserve our natural resources but I really think the way to go is to pass a bill requiring these reports and updates be placed on the internet. The money saved by doing this can be used to expand free wireless internet systems state wide. Or at least to increase funding to provide free computers and internet access in librarys and state buildings throughout the state. Then one day (when and if) we have the ability to watch the legislative session via the internet those who cannot afford high speed internet will have access to it.

This blog post is longer than most and I still have other bills that I am interested in but perhaps another post another day.

Sheriff to Receive 56% Raise....LOL

First off I have been remiss in my blogging the last few weeks. No excuses just haven't gotten to it lately. I have to admit I am even getting tired of reading the blogs which are full of political stuff. Don't get me wrong this is an important election and we all need to vote and if you don't know the issues or who to vote for yet then you need to get informed. On the other hand I really feel that most people have made up their minds by now. The fact that such a high amount of voters have early voted (30% as of today) points to the fact that they have made up their minds.

Now to the main topic, I was surprised to wake up this morning and do my usual quick look over the major papers online editions and see that the New Mexican had a story which reported I was getting a 56% raise. The story states that I currently receive $45,141 a year and will get $68, 308 with a raise set to go before the county commission today. I did call the reporter and let her know that I currently earn $68,308 and that the last sheriff to earn $45,141 was former Sheriff Benjie Montano who earned that in 1997. Current state law does not allow a politician such as myself to get a raise midterm. Therefor county officials who were in mid term two years ago when the last raise was put into place did not get the last raise. It is my belief that what the county commissioners were voting on today was a raise to bring reelected and newly elected officials up to par with the rest of the elected officials who got the raise two years ago when they are sworn in on January 1, 2008.

I spoke to the reporter and the incorrect wages she reported were supplied to her by the county public information officer so I can see how if she was provided the erroneous current pay and then she looked at the pay set in the county resolution to be voted on then she would assume huge raises for county officials. There is a constitutional amendment currently on the ballot, Amendment #2 which would allow for midterm salary increases for elected officials. The benefit to this amendment is that we would not have county commissioners or others who make less than their counterparts because a raise is enacted midterm. Currently newly elected officials get the raise while those already serving would not get the raise.

I am surprised the story did not get much attention, you would think that in today's economy %50 raises for elected officials would get a lot of attention. My office received no phone calls, emails, or complaints over the erroneous story. As for me, I am content with my current pay.

Would THIS make you quit smoking?

Let me start this post with my condolences for Evelyn Romero. I have met and talked to her on several occasions over the years and I understand the pain she must be going through. Losing two children and a husband since the year 2000 must be very hard. She also lost her mother in law the day after the death of her son Ronnie. I have a 23 year old son and a 16 year old daughter they along with my wife are my life. I can't imagine a day without them.

As most of you are aware Evelyn's son Ronnie died in jail on Sunday September 21, 2008. Her youngest son Robbie Romero, age 7, disappeared from the family's Bellamah Drive neighborhood in June 2000. Ronnie was always described as a "person of interest" in the disappearance in the City Police case.

Ronnie's autopsy was held on Monday September 22 and during the autopsy a balloon with suspected heroin was located in his rectum (is there a better way to describe this?). This brought about many questions as to how it gets there, why jail officials cannot stop this, along with many other questions.

The sheriff's office, the jail, the county government and others get sued by family members of both those who overdose in jail and those who die in jail in drug related deaths. The same firm (Rothstein, Donatelli, Hughes, Dahlstrom, Schoenburg & Bienvenu LLP) has had the gall to sue the county for failing to do enough to stop drugs coming into the jail and in the same breath and a different case, file a separate lawsuit for doing too much to stop drugs from coming into the jail. In the end the only one who wins in these lawsuits is the attorneys who have gotten filthy rich over these lawsuits. These attorneys file wide sweeping lawsuits suing anyone and everyone knowing that its cheaper to settle than litigate many of these cases. The earlier mentioned firm even knows full well that the Sheriff's Office is not allowed by the county to have anything to do running the jail yet they still name the Sheriff in all lawsuits having to do with the jail. Typical slash and burn tactics to ensure they can rake in as much money from as many people as possible.

These lawsuits have medical personnel, jail personnel and others scared to do anything. Inmates know that jail officials and others cannot perform any type of invasive body cavity searches so they swallow drugs in balloons in order to excrete them later or vomit the drugs back out later. They also simply insert the balloons into the rectum in order to remove them later. I am really going to gross you out now but I have seen where an inmate was suspected of bring drugs into the jail. The inmate was placed into what is called a dry cell, one without a toilet. The inmate admitted to excreting the drugs on the floor, digging them out of the excrement, and swallowing them again so they would not be found by jail personnel. Cigarettes and tobacco are brought in in the same manner.

Even when police and sheriff's get a court ordered search warrant allowing for a body cavity search, medical personnel refuse to do so stating they will not jeopardize their malpractice insurance costs by doing so. The doctors and hospitals would rather say no to a judge than face the lawsuits by the newest form of ambulance chasers. Of course jail personnel cannot do invasive searches. Hospitals have even refused to do a simple x-ray to determine if drugs were in the body. Do I seem harsh with my words? I have actually had detectives arrive at the jail to investigate a case and have private investigators and representatives of civil attorneys waiting at the front door trying to see the inmates before our investigators even begin the case.

I know there will be a lawsuit in the Romero case, I would not doubt if the above mentioned law firm did not send their business card with flowers to the funeral home. Everyone wants to blame someone when a loved one dies. When someone smuggles drugs into a jail, distributes them to inmates, and then someone dies from those drugs who is to blame? Lawsuits are usually based on proving that a person, company, or government was negligent in its duties to prevent or stop an incident. The same lawyers who sue for these cases are the same ones who tie jails hands and create ways for inmates to bring in drugs, cigarettes, and other contraband.

Which reminds me, would you quit smoking or smoke a cigarette that came from the rear end of your cell mate! I don't smoke but I think it would be enough to make me quit. I guess I have ended up using this post to rant but when I see these attorneys deposit another half a million or more taxpayer dollars in their bank account it sticks in my craw. Want an example?

In the Santa Fe Strip Search lawsuit the inmates got an average of $2,500 the attorneys, (same ones I mentioned above) got 2 million dollars. Think about that, the Firm Donatelli and Rothstien collected two million dollars for 6 months work in the Strip Search lawsuit. Even if they worked all day every day 40 hours a week this comes out to a ridicules hourly wage. I have said it before, if these attorneys at least used some of the money to help inmates receive things like drug rehabilitation or job training then I could give them some credit. Imagine what counties could do with money given to these firms or our insurance carriers which charge high premiums due to these attorneys.

We lack adequate mental health inpatient treatment facilities, inpatient drug rehabilitation facilities and even enough outpatient treatment for inmates and those who need help before they become inmates. All this money could go to these and other worthy programs. I am one who believes we need tort and other reforms which will reign in these class action and other lawsuits. How many times do citizens get a coupon worth $20 or less in these class action lawsuits while the attorneys get millions. How is this fair? Sometimes I feel like sticking my head out a window and yelling "enough is enough!"

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Santa Fe Fiesta Parade and Our Next Sheriff

I attended the Santa Fe Fiesta Historical/Hysterical parade on Sunday Sept 7, 2008 with my wife Antoinette, many family members and my kids. It was a lot of fun and this was the first time in years I got to watch from the sidelines rather than be on a float or stagecoach. There were political entries, schools, sports, Fiesta royalties from Santa Fe and surrounding communities, nice cars and trucks, business and non profits and just some community members who wanted to have fun. I was surprised to also see two entries from a couple of gentlemen who seek to replace me in a little over two years. I received a lot of calls and comments from people who let me know they are sad to see me go. Many thought the candidates were running this November to replace me this year.

I still have over half my second term left and god willing I will still be Sheriff until January 1, 2011. While I am purposely not mentioning the names of those who were in the fiesta parade seeking to get name recognition and try to be my replacement, I am going to come out really early and tell you who I am endorsing. Current Undersheriff Robert Garcia is running for Sheriff in the 2010 June Primary and I will not only be endorsing him, I will whole heartily give him any support I can. Robert is a former Union President, former Santa Fe City Police Sergeant, Former member of the armed forces, and was my mentor in both union and police disciplines throughout my early police years. He also saved my butt if not my life during several bouts with criminals.

Robert has been an integral part of my administration and been responsible for many of our successes in the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. Even though I still intend to be around over two more years I have complete confidence that when the time comes Santa Fe County voters can do no better than to elect Robert Garcia as my replacement.

So now back to the parade, Here are a few pictures I took of the parade.

Martin Heinrich Announces Sheriff Greg Solano's Endorsement

First Congressional District Candidate Martin Heinrich has sent out a press release announcing that two other Sheriff's have joined Sheriff Greg Solano in endorsing him for his race against Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. Readers (or the reader, lol) of this blog know that I endorsed Martin Heinrich back on June 16, 2008 in this blog post.

Now joining me in endorsing Heinrich are Sheriff John Paul Trujillo of Sandoval County and Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera. All three sheriffs come from jurisdictions that reach into the First Congressional District.

Left to right Sheriff Rene Rivera, Sheriff Greg Solano, Sheriff John Paul Trujillo

For me I feel just a little bad that I cannot support Sheriff White but he has always been a staunch Bush supporter and the Bush administration has decimated law enforcement in his last 7 years in office. The really bad part is I have never heard Sheriff White admonish the Bush administration or even lobby the Bush administration to stop the bleeding. Officers across this nation are going with out Bullet Proof Vests, without ammunition for training and with out funding to keep cops on the streets and in the schools. I would love to see a fellow Law Enforcement Officer in Congress, Darren White is just not that officer. Below is the actual Press Release from Martin Heinrich's campaign. I will join Martin Heinrich at a press conference on Thursday August 7, 2008 in Albuquerque. I have not yet received the location but I will update you when I receive it.

Martin Heinrich Endorsed by three Sheriffs of First District

August 4, 2008

Sheriffs Solano, Rivera, Trujillo staunchly back Heinrich's crime-fighting record

The sheriffs are back in town. This past weekend, three central New Mexico sheriffs publicly endorsed candidate Martin Heinrich in his campaign for Congress in the First District. All three sheriff cited Heinrich's crime-fighting record on Albuquerque City Council as a main reason for supporting him in the race for Congress, and all expressed optimism for the future of New Mexican law enforcement with Heinrich acting on their behalf in Congress.

Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera appeared Saturday at a Valencia County welcoming event for Martin Heinrich. In his endorsement, Sheriff Rivera said, "I've been in law enforcement for over 19 years fighting against crime and drugs. Martin Heinrich was tough on crime on the Council, and I know he's the right partner in Congress to help keep our streets safe. That's why I'm endorsing him."

"We need Martin Heinrich in Congress," said Sandoval Sheriff John Paul Trujillo in his statement of endorsement. "This is the year to send the right representative to be our man in Congress, our voice for New Mexico law enforcement. Martin Heinrich will fight for critical legislation, like the COPS program. President Bush has succeeded in almost completely defunding COPS, but Martin will fight for the grants and funding law enforcement needs."

Santa Fe Sheriff Greg Solano endorsed Martin Heinrich earlier in the general election, but released an official statement of endorsement today. "This was not a hard decision – supporting Martin Heinrich and endorsing his candidacy," said Sheriff Solano. "I will always support my fellow sheriffs and members of law enforcement, but this year I know the best man to represent us in Congress is Martin Heinrich. As City Councilor he worked to fight crime and meth production in Albuquerque and increase the minimum wage to help out all of us living here. Martin Heinrich will bring the same ingenuity, creativity, and focus to Congress."

In response Heinrich said, "I am honored that Sheriffs Rivera, Trujillo, and Solano have decided that I am the one person in this race they know they can count on to be their partner in fighting crime."

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Cops Don't Live Here Anymore.....

Mark Sanders from the Santa Fe Reporter has an excellent cover story in this weeks Reporter detailing the fact that most cops who work in the city and county of Santa Fe, don't live here. Its a very in depth article and Mark did an great job of showing both the effects on the community and the officers themselves. Santa Fe is reaching critical mass as far as law enforcement officers living 30-60 miles away verses them living in the city and county. One item he touched on was the take home car program. It is a very beneficial program used by most police agencies in New Mexico. As both the City and County pass the 60% mark of officers who live outside the county we lose many benefits of the take home car program. Officers are allowed to take home their police cruisers for several reasons.

1. They can respond directly to an emergency with out going to the police station first when they are off duty and called out in an emergency.



2. They can respond to accidents, emergencies or reckless driving while en route to and from work and help on situations which they may drive up on.



3. Police presence in the neighborhoods reduce crime, (the police cars visible in neighborhoods).



4. Cars assigned to individual officers tends to reduce wear and tear and cars are kept in better condition because one individual is responsible for the vehicle, verses a motor pool type situation where many people use the same vehicle.



5. Take home vehicles are used as a perk to attract and retain personnel.
   It is an especially effective recruiting tool because other law enforcement agencies in the region have similar vehicle use policies for their officers. It stands to reason that a take-home policy would make an agency more competitive for the most qualified job applicants.



6. Take home vehicles let officers keep their special equipment, such as SWAT gear, organized and readily at hand.

As you can see from the list of benefits the take home cars make sense. However we lose some of the benefits when officers live 30 -60 miles away.

1. Officers still help when they encounter crime or accidents on their way to and from work however many times the help comes to citizens outside their jurisdiction so their ability to take action is limited.



2. There is still an increased police presence in neighborhoods but the benefit is for neighborhoods in other cities and counties which have more affordable housing. The City and County of Santa Fe is paying for safety and security of other communities.



3. While cars are still better maintained by individual officers versus motor pools the increased wear and tear put on by the increased mileage may negate some of the benefits. Gas costs are also greatly increased by the increased distances to and from home.

As you can see we start to lose the benefits of take home cars as we allow the costs to live here to be beyond the reach of our civil servants. When we look at the true cost to not have affordable housing in Santa Fe city and county it goes beyond simple dollars and cents. We start to encroach on the actual safety and security of our residents. Think about, doctors, nurses, firefighters, teachers and other essential personnel who are often needed in emergencies or whose shortage of available personnel is even worse in Santa Fe due to its high housing costs. What is the true cost of not ensuring we have housing available at all income levels?

There is much controversy over the proposed city transfer tax on high end homes in Santa Fe. The Transfer tax is designed to raise funds for affordable housing projects in the city of Santa Fe. There is probably many ways including the transfer tax to combat this problem and there is much disagreement on the best way to tackle the issue. However, we must tackle the issue. There is more than increased gas costs for take home vehicles on the line. The safety, security and sustainability of the county and city are at stake.

The Santa Fe Reporter article described Aspen, Colo., where the median home cost is so prohibitive (more than $6 million in the first quarter of 2008 for a single family structure) that the city has begun a lottery system for police department heads and emergency responders.“They get them at a reduced cost,” Sgt. Chip Seamans of the Aspen Police Department says. Department employees are eligible for the lottery after five years. The city then determines the cost of the property based on income. So depending on income, a new cop might pay $100,000 and a chief might pay $300,000 for a house. In either case, Seamans says, it is a great deal.“To be able to purchase a home in Aspen proper is a bit of a stretch for any government worker,” Seamans says, noting the starting pay for a rookie is $7 an hour better than in Santa Fe—$22.03.

We have probably already reached the point where we should consider this type of system for Santa Fe. There are those who would oppose this, at least until their home is burglarized, or until the S.W.A.T. team takes 50 minutes to respond to their emergency. I hate to bring up these instances since they could be thought of as scare tactics but it is the truth. Sometimes the truth is scary.

Funny Friday- Rock and Roll Sheriff Darren White

Thanks to Jeremy Jojola for posting this fun video of Rock and Roll Sheriff Darren White who is trying to succeed Pete Dominici as Senator from the Great State of New Mexico. Doesn't Sheriff White look serious as he croons "Just say no!"

Sheriff Joe Arpaio VS The Phoenix Times

Last week and again this week I read Julia Goldbergs blog post on someone I have discussed in previous blog posts of my own with some amazement. Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County Arizona is both hated and revered across this nation. Emails extolling his greatness are forwarded back and forth to hundreds of thousands of computers across the nation. I could not count how many times I have received this email, usually from someone who just moved to Santa Fe and thinks I should be like Joe. Public hangings would resume on the Santa Fe Plaza with me being the first recipient of the treatment if I was like Sheriff Joe.

My counter on this blog keeps track of how search engines lead people to my blog as well as how many visit per day. The search term Sheriff Joe Arpaio is always in the top 5 even though I have only mentioned him in 3 of my 217 previous posts on this blog. I first became intimately aware of this sheriff prior to my being elected to my first term. Our local jail was the number one topic of the election at the time. The jail was privately run and was receiving criticism from the public as well undergoing an investigation by the Department of Justice. I studied jail models from across the country and was shocked and amazed that our jail was under so much scrutiny from the Department of Justice while tent jails both in New Mexico and in Sheriff Arpaio's county seemed like comparing a Holiday Inn to an outhouse.

In the latest episode Sheriff Arpaio's Deputies arrested Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, chief executive of Village Voice Media — a company that owns a number of alternative weeklies including The Village Voice, The LA Weekly and The Phoenix Times.

The Phoenix Times and its editors have been in a long running battle with Sheriff Arpaio, after publishing a series of stories about his real estate dealings. They were arrested for unlawful disclosure of grand jury information. In a strange twist they were also being investigated for publishing the Sheriff's home address. I always thought everyone knows where every politician lives and if they did not know they could find out pretty easily. I cannot count the number of people who have knocked at my door and come to my home to ask for help, advice or just to let me know what they think about me or one of my deputies. Its part of being an elected official, at least in New Mexico it is.

Seems now the Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has not only dropped the charges against the news editors but he has also canceled the investigation into publishing of the Sheriff's Home Address. So, why are Grand Jury Proceedings Secret anyway? Most states who have Grand Jury systems follow Federal Grand Jury Rules.

Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provide that the prosecutor, grand jurors, and the grand jury stenographer are prohibited from disclosing what happened before the grand jury, unless ordered to do so in a judicial proceeding. Secrecy was originally designed to protect the grand jurors from improper pressures. The modern justifications are to prevent the escape of people whose indictment may be contemplated, to ensure that the grand jury is free to deliberate without outside pressure, to prevent subornation of perjury or witness tampering prior to a subsequent trial, to encourage people with information about a crime to speak freely, and to protect the innocent accused from disclosure of the fact that he or she was under investigation.

Courts have taken seriously any attempt to publish or report secret proceedings in Grand Juries. In a 2004 article published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Reporters are cautioned that judges will go after reporters who reveal information from secret Grand Jury Proceedings. In the Article published by The Phoenix Times the paper acknowledged they may be in trouble for publishing the subpoena's from the Grand Jury however decided that the publics right to know the far reaching effects of the subpoena was more important. The County Attorney in dropping the charges and investigations has since stated that the subpoena's were overly broad in their scope.
















In my opinion a hard headed Sheriff and his attorneys have met their match in a hard headed newspaper. The two are butting heads and I wonder how much public money is being spent in this pissing match. Both sides have made errors and one can argue who is more right or wrong. In either case the public loses. All though the offenses are not necessarily on the same scale this reminds me of the Clinton/Monica Lewinski special prosecutor investigations in that no one really won and in the end what was the point of the investigation anyway? When public officials or the media go on witch hunts they can easily lose focus of their primary responsibilities and what their true mission really is.

Efforts to Recall Sheriff Lee Baca a Bust.

Sheriff Lee Baca who released Paris Hilton from jail faced a recall effort which has gone nowhere after two months of gathering signatures.

Andrew Ahlering, a former county employee accused the Los Angeles sheriff of giving Hilton preferential treatment by allowing her to return home after serving less than four days of a 23-day jail sentence. The effort gathered a dismal 40 of the nearly 400,000 signatures needed by December to get a recall measure on the ballot. Ahlering, also said he had raised less than $100 for the campaign.

In the immense population of Los Angeles County either Sheriff Baca has amazing support or Andrew Ahlering is doing a horrible job of gathering signatures. The whole Paris Hilton case was way over publicized and the Judge in the case used Paris Hilton to make an example of celebrity's who get in trouble. It is highly debatable whether Paris served a fair amount of time in jail. One thing appears for sure, Sheriff Lee Baca is going nowhere.

County votes yes on large increases in pay for deputies

I just got home from the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners Meeting where the commissioners voted unanimously to raise deputy pay an average of a little over three dollars an hour, with some deputies getting as much as $6 an hour increase. Our starting pay will now go to $14.89 an hour for a deputy starting with no experience. These pay increases put us at exactly the same pay scale the City of Santa Fe Police who were beginning to steal away our employees after they received two pay increases in just the last year. Law Enforcement over the last four to five years have become one of the most competitive fields of employment as less and less people are attracted to a career in law enforcement. Money verses risk has become more important as the days when young people grew up longing to be officers is long gone.

Many young people just don't feel the pay is worth it, young men and women today have a much higher expectation of pay than public service normally provides. So over the last few years Law Enforcement has had to come to grips with the fact that pay had to increase dramatically in order to attract new men and women to law enforcement jobs.

A little over three weeks ago we started losing deputies to the City of Santa Fe Police Department with many more putting in applications or talking about doing so. I called an emergency meeting with County Manager Roman Abeyta and the Heads of Finance and Human Resources. When I explained the dire straits we would soon be in the County Manager jumped on board and immediately began preparations and began gathering the figures and locating the money to match the city's pay. I have to give County Manager Roman Abeyta a lot of credit for not only understanding the problem but for not trying to band aid the problem and going out an making the raises happen. He showed great leadership in my opinion.

The County Manager then met with the commissioners and explained the need for the raises and why we needed to bite the bullet and match the city dollar for dollar. He came back with positive results so the next step was to get the union to agree not only to the raises but to set aside non monetary issues in the current negotiations and come up with an agreement on pay first. Usually during negotiations which we are now in the middle of all non financial issues are dealt with first leaving financial issues for last. The union and management stepped up the meetings and agreements were reached. The union membership voted on the contract agreement and we were now set for a final vote before the county commission. The total cost of the raises was just under $700,000. Not a small chunk of change to ask the commission to approve. None the less the vote was unanimous and the raises take effect the first full pay period in August.

Every one involved showed great leadership and worked hard to make this happen in an amazingly short amount of time. The citizens of Santa Fe County will benefit greatly from this and will absolutely get their monies worth from the deputies whom I know are the best of the best in New Mexico Law Enforcement.

A relaxation of standards or sign of the times?

I am a little behind lately on reading some of the other 43 blogs I subscribe to. I was trying to catch up today when I ran across this post from Mario Burgos. In the post he talks about the nationwide trend of what some call a lowering of standards in police hiring. What triggered his post was an associated press article in last Mondays Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) in which the author describes what many departments are doing to increase hiring and fill positions.

Many departments (actually most departments) around the country are relaxing age and fitness standards, forgiving minor criminal convictions and easing other requirements to relieve shortages in their ranks and find officers who are wiser, more worldly and cooler-headed in a crisis.

I remember when I started in 1988 with the Santa Fe Police Department. I went in to take the written test along with a hundred or so other candidates. There were three openings in the department of around 70 officers from the Chief on down. The three who made through the written test, medical assessment, physical agility, polygraph, background check, and interview process were current City Police Captain Gary Johnson, now Retired Officer Nigel Bridger, and myself. The process was grueling and because there were so many applicants for so few positions the police department could be very picky in who they hired.

Most police officers who were hired back then were fresh out of the military like former 82cd Airborne officer Gary Johnson, I believe Nigel Bridger also came out of the military. I was 24 years old married 3 years and we had our first child on the way. The first two of my three siblings whom my wife and I raised after the death of my mother were out of the home. My brother on his own and my sister off to college. I had one sister left who if I remember right was probably about to be a freshman in high school. I was a Service Advisor at Santa Fe Mazda Volvo and had no medical benefits. I opened the paper and began looking for a job with retirement and benefits.

There was an ad for cops so I applied. I also took an aptitude test for the full time National Guard and about the same time I was going through the testing process for the police department I was considering a four year enlistment with a promised assignment at the Hawk Missile Battalion in Albuquerque. My specialty out of high school and my hobby to this day was computer sciences, now commonly called I.T. . I built my first computer, a Timex Sinclair Kit which was then sold by Heathkit when I was about 16. I always had a computer or two, or six in pieces around the house. Thus my M.O.S. of working on the computers at the Hawk Missile site.

Just days before I signed my life away to the military I got a call to meet with then Chief Raymond Sisneros and Deputy Chief Jimmy "juero" Salazar. I was offered the job and thus the choice between military and police was made. I go into this whole rambling on about this part of my life to get to a point. The point is I competed with around a hundred other applicants for three positions. Now we commonly get about 5- 10 applicants at a time and if we are lucky 2 or 3 make it past the initial testing and then 1 or 2 of these make it past the background checks. Back in my day " I feel old saying that expression", you could find some who did little or no experimentation with drugs and drank little alcohol. Believe it or not I never drank a full beer until halfway into my first year as an officer.

Now the pickings are slim and its almost impossible to find someone who has not experimented with drugs, and even quite a few applicants have had a D.W.I. in their past. I will not accept anyone who has had a D.W.I. within the past five years nor anyone who has had more than one. Even someone with one D.W.I. that is over five years old has to have an otherwise squeaky clean record. No one with any felony conviction will be hired. We are bound to minimum physical agility standards for new officers as they must attend the State run Police Academy and will not be accepted without passing minimum physical fitness and agility standards.

Experienced officers who have already passed the police academy enjoy a more relaxed physical agility standard. As I look at our limited pool of applicants I wonder is the relaxation of standards a really an attempt to relax standards or is it just a sign of the times? Like any business model when employee pools are high management can afford to be more picky in their hiring, when they are not you choose from the pool you have. The war in Iraq, the extra demands in Santa Fe and other social economic factors have greatly affected police hiring.

In Santa Fe you have the headquarters for the National Guard, the headquarters for the State police, The headquarters for State Corrections, the County Jail, City Police, and the Sheriff's Office among others all vying for the same personality of worker who would get involved in a military or law enforcement related career. This intense pressure on the employee pool puts Santa Fe at a loss in a job market that is having problems recruiting officers across the nation as it is. I have too admit that with a wider pool some who made the top of the list in the last few years hiring probably would not have in the eighty's but none the less we have a great staff at the Sheriff's Office and all make me proud everyday. As I have fired dozens of deputies over the years I will not hessitate to get rid of someone who does not work at the standards we demand. It is easy to point fingers and show disdain for what some call the relaxation of standards however those same people would point fingers at chiefs and sheriffs for not doing enough to hire more officers at times when those positions need to be filled.