While most law enforcement agencies throughout New Mexico are struggling to recruit and retain sworn officers, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is almost fully staffed.
There are currently 324 sworn deputies serving with the BCSO, and to be fully staffed the agency needs 349 sworn deputies, according to Jayme Fuller-Gonzales, spokesperson for BCSO.
Gonzales said this number will soon change with several lateral hires who are expected to join BCSO.
Lt. Santiago Roybal, director of training at BCSO, said proactive policing, pay, quality co-workers and work-family-life balance are among the reasons he believes law enforcement officers want to work at BCSO.
“I’ll just say that catching bad guys is allowed and makes a huge difference,” he said. “I think that’s why we get a lot of laterals from other local agencies who don’t have that luxury.”
BCSO said the East Mountain Area Command is not yet fully staffed but does have enough officers to cover every shift. They hope to hire more officers in the future.
To reach capacity, Roybal said the sheriff’s office has some big things planned this year for recruitment.
The first is a 10% pay increase scheduled to begin July 13, which will bump the pay of first-year deputies to $81,723 annually.
“Our biggest competition for recruits is usually the Albuquerque Police Department, for people who live in this area, so the pay scale that we have is always helpful to get people in the door,” Roybal said.
In July, Albuquerque police officers first-class — officers who have finished their first year — will see a pay increase to $71,820 per year, according to Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officer’s Association.
The sheriff’s office is also working with a media company to update the recruiting website. Currently, that website is connected to the general county website and it’s cumbersome to find recruiting information, apply for a position using a phone or get in direct contact with recruiters.
The current administration has been supportive of hiring already certified law enforcement officers from other agencies and actively recruits retired military.
They’ll also be recruiting at colleges across the country, Roybal said.
Proactive police work
One of the positives about working at the agency, he said, is that deputies can fully engage with the community and do proactive police work.
“If you see something that’s suspicious, stop and take a look at it and investigate it,” Roybal said. “I know other agencies don’t have that, or for various reasons, they’re not allowed to do it, or they shy away from it, but here it’s promoted.”
That culture is promoted from the very beginning in the academy, Roybal said, and is supported by supervisors up to the sheriff.
Roybal said that while police oversight is good, some of the other agencies have too much oversight, which is a hindrance.
Higher standards
“Something as an agency that we’re very proud of is that we’re one of the few agencies who hasn’t and will not lower our hiring standards,” he said.
Roybal said the reason BCSO won’t lower its hiring standards is because existing deputies deserve the highest quality partners and the community deserves the highest quality deputies.
“We will always uphold that,” he said. “Other agencies change their standards in written tests, and physical testing, in background to get more bodies into the academy, but eventually what happens is those people struggle writing reports or struggle physically.”
Roybal said lowering background standards hurts liability and can raise liability concerns in future decision-making. It can also call into question the integrity of a law enforcement officer.
“Those are not things we’re willing to lower standards for,” he said.
Work-family-life balance
“The sheriff’s office is really family-based and what I mean by that is that it is supported all the way through the chain (of command), that we all make time and make it a priority for people to be able to spend time with their families,” Roybal said.
One thing Roybal said he is most proud of in his 19 years at BCSO is that he has never missed any events for his kids.
“I have three kids and they have their little May fiestas and little things that may not seem important, but I’ve never had to miss them my entire career because of the culture BCSO has,” he said.
To become a deputy
To become a deputy, applicants must pass a written test and a physical agility test, an i-detect test which is similar to a polygraph test, a background check and a sheriff’s review. The process takes about six months to complete and according to Roybal, only 1% of applicants finish the process.
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