‘It’s tough being a cop’

Juan Corral
Las Cruces Bulletin

After the Young Park shooting on March 21, that left three dead and 15 injured, Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story said the police are understaffed.

Many individuals took to social media after the shooting and blamed the Las Cruces Police Department for the fact that the youth had gathered at the park unofficially to show off their cars. But Story told the Las Cruces Bulletin that policing is difficult in this day and age and even more so when departments in rural states are understaffed.

Story said fewer people want to be police officers. He said that became particularly noticeable after the summer of 2020. That's when a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, placed his knee on the neck of a man, George Floyd, for about nine minutes despite pleas from Floyd that he couldn’t breathe. A jury found Chavin guilty of second- and third-degree murder and he was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Story said things have not been the same for police recruitment since that year.

“That’s an objective fact. You look at our application numbers over time, you can look at state police, Albuquerque or even Portland. It has a lot to do with the environment or the climate around policing especially from 2020 on,” he said.

Story said being a police officer is a difficult job.

“It’s more difficult now than it used to be. It’s harder today than it was when I started, by far,” he said.

Story, who has been on the Las Cruces Police force for 18 years, said police are now more than ever being held accountable. He emphasized he is not against accountability but he added police make mistakes like any person.

“There’s these expectations set on officers that are almost impossible to meet all the time. You have a 25-year career, you’re going to make mistakes, right?” Story said.

He said the pressure officers receive from press, politicians and government officials can be intense and many may not understand the stress officers deal with.

“In the entire country there are very few departments who are fully staffed, and if they are today, fast forward six months. They probably won’t be, because that’s just how it fluctuates,” Story said.

How they do it

With fewer staff, law enforcement often rely on each other and similar agencies to help with responding to calls. 

In a recent car chase that occurred on April 2 through Las Cruces involving an alleged stolen vehicle, U.S. Customs and Border Protection based in El Paso responded to the call and assisted, as did the Las Cruces police and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, although New Mexico State Police were the lead agency on that incident.

It is quite common for outside authorities in surrounding areas to assist those in more rural-based cities and towns, when they lack the number of officers, according to Landon Hutchins, CBP public information officer, who is based in El Paso.

Hutchins said it happens often that border agents will send one or two officers to assist local law enforcement because states like New Mexico and Texas are so vast, law enforcement is spread thin.

Who wants the job?

Police cadet Owen Gould said he first had interest in joining the force when he was a child. His passion was driven by his father who worked at the local detention center and shortly after, became the jail director in Cibola County.

“So, interesting story, my dad actually ended up serving time on a civil rights violation in a federal prison for his time as the director at Cibola County so that kind of put some reservations in my head. It can be risky, the legal environment. But making the correct decisions, you’ll be okay,” he said.

Gould is part of a class of 33 cadets currently enrolled in the Las Cruces Police Training Academy. Story said this is the second highest enrollment rate in the last 30 years. Gould said before he enrolled in the academy, he served as a police service aide.

“I had it in me. I wanted to help people. I want to put myself at risk for the safety and security of others, be somebody that the community can rely on,” Gould said.

Christian Castillo, another cadet at the academy, said she has always had interest in the police department.

“It has always been an interest of mine. Especially the interaction with the community is a part I really like,” she said. “I did [the Department of Corrections] for four years, so I understood the challenge a little bit better. I think it was my time to actually push myself to do what I wanted to do.”

Castillo added that there is always fear about putting one’s life on the line, but she said she’s ready to do it for the community.

She added that being a part of the academy has pushed any doubt out of her mind that she would be scared. She said it has given her more pride.

She said there will always be areas where people may think something is not done correctly but she said it’s a matter of changing the culture.

“There is bad in all careers, people will make mistakes. It’s how we come up from those mistakes that matters and the fact that we do something to try and change those mistakes. We’re supposed to be working together, the community and the department but I think if we work together with the community involved, we can come to a great understanding. Just give us that opportunity,” she said.

Update: This story was updated on April 7th to reflect the fact that Las Cruces Police Chief Story did not mention Derek Chauvin.