Park ranger program comes to Las Cruces

After years of concerns about safety, Las Cruces is turning a new page in how it will protect public parks.  

 The Las Cruces Police Department announced its park ranger program on Jan. 30. The city’s first four park rangers were introduced and are now beginning their daily patrols with one goal in mind which is to bring safety, visibility, and peace of mind back to the parks within our community.  

“This is about making sure families and children can use our parks without the same issues that were happening,” said LCPD Chief Jeremy Story during Tuesday’s press conference. “We’re very excited to have them start on their own in the parks. We will have park rangers in our parks, every single day.”  

The program has been in the works since 2025, when the LCPD proposed the idea to the Las Cruces City Council. The council unanimously approved it, and the department was able to secure the funding they needed. What followed was the development of a rigorous recruitment and training process. It was modeled after traditional police procedures, however it was custom-made for park service.   

To become a park ranger, applicants had to complete a written exam, physical tests, oral board interview, background investigation, polygraph screening, and drug testing. Those who were selected then entered a five-week academy, followed by 10 weeks of field training with experienced code and outreach officers.  

Crystal Holguin, Jacob Arman, Joab Lara, and Brian Perez are the first to step into the park ranger role. They officially started this week and will be working daily in the parks. 

“I feel like being able to serve means people are able to come to these parks and understand that they are able to be here without people they feel uncomfortable with,” said Holguin. “We’re here to make a change.” 

She added that parks should be a safe space for everyone in the community. “We want to see more families out here, more kids playing, and feeling safe to be out here without worrying about anything.”  

For Arman, he is enjoying the responses from those locally. 

“A lot of families are really happy to see us out here,” he said. “Our feedback from our presence in the park has been positive, and interactions with people who do need help have all been positive too.”  

Arman hopes that people will feel more excited about stepping outdoors at one of these spaces. 

“I would encourage people to visit our local parks.”  

While park rangers don’t carry out traditional roles like police officers, their presence is felt and designed to stop any issues before happening. LCPD said the role of a park ranger is a part of a bigger push for community connection, prevention, and rebuilding trust in public spaces that should be safe.