"To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men"
Overview
After serving in the US Air Force, I began my career as a peace officer in 1995 for the NM Dept. of Corrections. Then in 1997, I became a police officer for the City of Carlsbad, NM. Through the years, I have worked in different capacities for local agencies: including criminal investigations, internal affairs, training and more. However, the job I found most rewarding was as the Sheriff of Eddy County. Wanting to still serve, I am currently the Chief Deputy for the Hood County Constable, Pct 4.
Highlights from the changes implemented
Of all my accomplishments within the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, what I am most proud of is the far reaching effects of the changes we made in the detectives division.
When I took office, the investigators were being mismanaged and under-utilized. They carried a minimal case load and had a reputation for not assisting patrol. I changed the expectations, giving them some new protocols and set higher standards that were mentored and monitored by the leadership. By expanding the case assignment requirements and encouraging more cooperation and collaboration with patrol, the detectives actually became more efficient. The division increased its case closure rate and cases cleared by arrest and warrant.
Another change implemented is we rotated patrol supervisors into a temporary assignment in the detectives. Beyond the obvious exposure and experience they took back to patrol, it also presented the opportunity to reopen a cold case homicide. The detectives continued this effort looking into other cold cases. By reexamining our cold cases we ultimately cleared two homicides with arrests: the Brandy Capps murder (about 4 years after her murder) and the Sasha Hedgecock murder (about 14 years after her murder).
[See the video at the bottom]
All the changes within the detectives division also had some unintended effects. The relationship between detectives and patrol improved; providing a more positive work environment; which resulted in a better, more effective agency; resulting in a better served community and improved public confidence. I believe this and my overt stance on the Constitution is what lead to my remarkable 75% approval rating, as reported by Zia Pole at the end of my term.
SE NM Child Advocacy Center
As a detective in Carlsbad, the first time I went to a child forensic interview, I listened in shock as this little five-year-old girl told, in amazing detail, of the things that her "bad grandpa" did to her. So, years later in late 2014, when I learned of the closing of The Kids' Safehouse (the agency that conducted child forensic interviews), I was keenly aware of the importance of this service and the devastation this void would leave in the community. Quickly, I recruited Zelma Lopez in December 2014 to create the Cavern City Child Advocacy Center (now the SE NM Child Advocacy Center). As a result of Zelma's hard work, Eddy and Lea Counties were without services for only 3 months. Our new CAC conducted their first interview in March 2015.
From the inception, in addition to the typical services provided by child advocacy centers across the country, I envisioned this CAC to provide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) services, which the community did not have at the time. Without this service locally, rape victims had to travel an hour or more one way to receive these valuable services, creating additional trauma to an already traumatized victim. Within the first year of operation, we had a fully functioning SANE program, as well.
I was proud to serve as the charter Board President for this organization. It wasn't until some time after moving to Granbury, which made serving in that role impractical, that I stepped down.
[See the video below]
Military Service
