Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 10 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
January 11, 2015
www.rdrnews.com
Smith: Accreditation increases professionalism BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
Police Chief Phil Smith has a vision for the Roswell Police Department — a more professional, community friendly police force. One of his first goals was reached in 2014, when the department was accredited by the New Mexico Law Enforcement Professional Standards Council. Receiving accreditation in May was a big achievement for the department, said Smith, and the department passed its accreditation evaluations with flying colors.
“We passed on our first evaluation,” Smith said, “and very few departments receive accreditation after the first pass.” Smith said ther e ar e about 110 law enfor cement agencies in New Mexico, serving over 230 communities — and of that number, only a dozen state agencies are accredited. “There are 12 accredited agencies in the state, and four of the 12 have their second re-accreditation,” said Scott Chambers, New Mexico Law Enforcement Accr editation pr ogram manager. “And one has their third re-accredita-
tion.” “Roswell PD was able to demonstrate to the assessors that they ar e very knowledgeable and professional in dealing with the public,” Chambers said. “The officers receive proper training in all aspect of law enforcement.” Chambers said the department has state-ofthe-art equipment and officers are trained on that equipment. “The department is very organized and they were able to demonstrate best police practices,” Chambers said. Accreditation is the ongoing process whereby agen-
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cies evaluate policy and procedure against established criteria and have compliance with that criteria verified by an independent and authoritative body, according to the New Mexico Municipal League website, nmml.org. The standards are policy development guidelines that represent a level of quality service delivery. The true indicator of compliance, however, lies with an evaluation by trained, independent professional peers, according to the website. The establishment of meanSee RPD, Page A3
Randal Seyler Photo
Roswell Police Sgt. Joe Smith, left, and Police Chief Phil Smith display the department’s certificate of accreditation from the state of New Mexico on Thursday. Chief Smith says he has several initiatives planned for the department in 2015.
Polar Party kicks off cookie season for Girl Scouts BY DYLANNE PETROS RECORD STAFF WRITER
A Polar Party kicked off the New Year for the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest Saturday afternoon. The theme of polar bears was chosen because the animal is the mascot for this year’s theme, “Lead the Change,” said Rebecca Taylor, membership team leader for Chaves County. “The girls are doing different activities around that theme,” she said. Some of the activities for Girl Scouts to get involved in at the party included science experiments about blubber, building igloos out of sugar cubes, learning about marketing, building business card holders and making customer lists for the upcoming cookie sales, which start Jan. 17.
Dylanne Petros Photos
Above: Three local Girl Scouts create igloos out of sugar cubes at Saturday’s Polar Party. This year’s theme for Girl Scouts is “Lead the Change” and the mascot is a polar bear. Right: Rebecca Taylor, membership team leader for Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest, shows girls how to make business cards and business card holders at Saturday’s Polar Party in preparation for cookie sales, which start Jan. 17.
Where did glitter copters go? Gov’t remains tight-lipped BY RANDAL SEYLER RECORD CITY EDITOR
File this under the “only in Roswell” chapter of Project Blue Book. Mysterious helicopters are heard flying at night, and the next day, yards are covered with a strange, glittery substance — an Unidentified Falling Object. Where did this glitter come from? Is it a top secret government experiment? Is it extraterrestrial
See SCOUTS, Page A2
Second Saturday sets students’ art aflutter Dylanne Petros Photo
Second Saturday students work on their flutter flags during Saturday’s lesson. Flutter flags were the creation of Rachel Hayes, the current artist in Roswell’s Artist in Residence program. After making the flutter flags, they were hung up outside the Roswell Museum and Art Center for display.
in origin? Or did Rip Taylor fly over in Santa’s sleigh and shower the town in shiny confetti? Let’s go back to that fateful night and set the scene. Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. Roswell city lights twinkle under a cold, bright full moon. It is a typical winter evening, and people are huddled around their electronic fireplaces, or eating dinner at their tables, when
To learn more about Second Saturday, see page C1 of Vistas.
Olsen seeks more green-thumbs to join Garden Club See GLITTER, Page A3
BY MARY MORGAN RECORD INTERN
Olsen
“We’ll have our cookies available on-hand that day,” Taylor said. In Chaves County alone last year, Taylor said more than 45,000 boxes of cookies were sold. “These are some excellent entrepreneur girls,” she said. The money that is earned from the sales does not leave Chaves County, Taylor said. T roops get their own profits and then the rest of the money stays in the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest program. The money that stays in the council, she said, goes to fund programs for the Girl Scouts and all school districts in Chaves County. “We provide archery programs to the school districts in Chaves County free of charge,” Taylor said.
Isabel Olsen is a friendly woman who spreads her love and knowledge of plants to anyone seeking the joy of gardening. Olsen has been a member of the Home Garden Club for 12 years. In 2008, Olsen completed the Master Gardener program offered by the Chaves County Cooperative Extension Service. In 2011, Olsen was the recipient of the New Mexico Garden Clubs Special Achievement Award or the
HIGH 58 LOW 29
TODAY’S FORECAST
Silver Medallion. Olsen moved from California to New Mexico with her husband and three children back in 1997. “After buying a home I was anxious to plant flowers, shrubs and trees,” said Olsen. Olsen quickly learned that the plants she loved to plant and grow in California did not grow in Roswell. “The soil and water was much different from what I was use to in San Diego,” Olsen said. Olsen found a notice in the Roswell Daily Record about a garden club meet-
• CHRISTY JO WILKINSON • LINDA SUE ENGLAND
ing. “It truly changed my life. Not only did I learn a wealth of information about gardening in our zone, but I made several dear friends,” she said. “I’m extremely proud to be the current NMGC, Inc. state president, especially since we haven’t had someone from Roswell (as president) since the 1960s,” Olsen said The Garden Club president is chosen based off what community they are in. Until now, Roswell didn’t have enough members so a president couldn’t be cho-
• SALLY JO DAVIS • DAVID INGALLS • ANTHONY MERZ
• VERLON HALL • NORMA COLLEEN HENDERSON
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B6
sen, she said. During her two-year term, she has traveled through the state visiting the 30 other garden clubs and spent time with the 625 members. With New Mexico being affiliated with the National Garden Clubs, she often gets to travel to other states for board meetings and conventions. “A question I get a lot is, ‘you must have a magnificent garden if you’re the state president?’ I respond with, ‘No, I don’t have much time to work in my garden with all my responsibilities,’” Olsen said. CLASSIFIEDS.......D1
COMICS..............B7
ENTERTAINMENT...B8
Olsen’s goal for the Garden Club is to increase the number of members and she has done just that. Olsen is also an officer in the Pecos Valley Iris Society. “The Iris is my favorite flower … the most enjoyable part of being a member is hosting the Iris Show each year for our community in May,” said Olsen. Record staff intern Mary Morgan may be contacted at 622-7710, ext. 305, or at Obituaries@rdrnews.com. Morgan is the newspaper’s obituary clerk and a general assignment reporter.
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2
HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8