NEXT TOP COP A look at the candidates and the process in the city’s search for a new police chief
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FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 23-MARCH 23-MARCH 1, 1, 2022 2022
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B Y J E F F P R O C T O R , B E L L A D AV I S j e f f p r o c t o r @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m b e l l a @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m
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he search for Santa Fe’s next police chief is in full swing—a citywide survey is ongoing, and closeddoor meetings with criminal justice professionals and community groups wrapped up last week. Former Chief Andrew Padilla announced his retirement in late September, after three and a half years overseeing a department of 135 sworn officers with a $27.87 million budget, a 20% vacancy rate and a recent history of high-profile blunders that has one person helping with the search process calling for “cultural change” within SFPD. The city also has seen an increase the past couple years in some violent crimes, and police brass have remained allergic to transparency around the department’s internal workings, including how officers are disciplined for on-duty misconduct. The new chief will inherit problems, to be sure, as well as goodwill from many res-
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idents who have praised the department’s decision to place “life over property” by stepping back when protesters tore down the Plaza obelisk in 2020, and for forays into alternative programs to divert those with addiction and other mental health issues from the criminal justice system. City Manager John Blair and Community Health and Safety Department Director Kyra Ochoa are leading the search, which began in mid-November, two weeks before Padilla officially stepped down. They received a relatively paltry 13 applications over two and a half months. No women applied. Officials whittled the list to 10 who met the minimum requirements, then two, both from out of state, dropped out. Blair and Ochoa expect to announce their choice by the end of March. Three of the eight who remain are locals, including SFPD’s interim chief and two other department higher-ups. Two others are from Albuquerque—one of them has overseen APD’s troubled path toward resolving a long history of use of excessive force. The other, a former Aviation Police Department chief, has been suspended for abusing his position of authority and once called Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a dubious traffic stop, leading to the deportation of a young man who had spent nearly his whole life in the United States. Blair says the city had not researched any candidate’s past troubles in law enforcement before SFR brought them up in an interview. Here are the candidates, along with their current or most recent posts in law enforcement, for the job, which has an hourly pay range of $47 to $70.50: • Paul Joye, deputy chief of police operations and interim chief, SFPD • Benjamin Valdez, deputy chief of police administration, SFPD • Thomas Grundler, lieutenant of support operations, SFPD • Mizel Garcia, retired police commander/ deputy chief, Albuquerque Police Department • Marshall Katz, retired chief of aviation police, City of Albuquerque • Andrew Rodriguez, deputy chief of police, Rio Rancho Police Department • Scott Ebner, lieutenant colonel, New Jersey State Police
• Frank Rodriguez, deputy commissioner, North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations The city advertised the position in seven places: its own website, LinkedIn.com, Indeed.com, New Mexico Municipal League, GoLawEnforcement.com, GovernmentJobs. com and the National Minority Update. City officials didn’t know how many applications they received the last few times the chief position was open, but they say they’re pleased with the applicant pool. “I think we have some very, very strong candidates and we’re happy with the result,” Ochoa tells SFR. “I think for us it’s about quality, not necessarily quantity.” (For comparison, the Albuquerque Police Department, which is about six times larger than SFPD, has averaged about 40 applicants during its last three chief searches.)
Successes and failures
SFPD has garnered its share of support in recent years from some corners of a community that largely leans progressive. The department’s decision to stand down as protesters yanked down the 150-year-old Plaza obelisk—a monument to Union Civil
I think we have some very, very strong candidates and we’re happy with the result. I think for us it’s about quality, not necessarily quantity. -Kyra Ochoa, Community Health and Safety Department director
