After a rocky departure from Grants Police Department where he was the previous police chief, Stephen Chavez is looking to become Cibola County’s next sheriff. His time as police chief was muddled by crisis after crisis, but he is keeping his head up, focused on this election.
Chavez has been in law enforcement since 1992 started his time as a reserve deputy for the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, the department he is now looking to lead. He spent time at the Laguna Police Department where he attained the rank of administrative sergeant, for eight years he served in Laguna, doing near “daily investigations.” Chavez prides himself on nearly having his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
After several years of law enforcement work, an opportunity arose in the Grants Police Department that would alter the course of Chavez’ career. He was made Chief of Police in the City of Grants. Chavez said that he was treated very unfairly from the moment he stepped into the office, he claimed that he was hired into the job with a directive from then District Attorney Lemuel Martinez to fire a “problem employee.” This firing was determined to be unjust after the employee he fired, Moses Marquez sued the City of Grants and won his case for unjust firing. This set into motion a chain of events that culminated in several sexual harassment complaints and a massive walkout of employees. Chavez called this “unfair” and said that he wasn’t given a chance, and claimed that he brought one of the officers who quit back just for that officer to quit again.
He said that he was proud of his time at GPD, that under his watch the department started a community policing practice. “Community policing is the way to go,” Chavez said, “Unfortunately, [then-City Manager Vanessa Chavez] didn’t think I was what she needed as chief, but I can earn the trust of the community in four years.”
Chavez said CCSO is in a “unique” position to affect Cibola County. and said that “I have the most experience, others never got above sergeant. Maxine Spidle is a lieutenant and has never been a leader of a department, she has never worked on a budget. There are a lot of thigs she hasn’t done. I’m not taking any of her experience away, but I have led a department. Larry Diaz was a police officer for 12 years and became an investigator for the DA’s Office, and investigators aren’t cops, they don’t even do criminal cases, because they can’t be called to testify. Now he’s been a judge for 11, again, not taking anything away from his success but he’s never led a department – never successfully led a department.” Chavez said, “I am the man for the job. Not because I have the personality, honestly, I’ve always been kind of an introvert and not a very charismatic type person, but I’ve also been honorable with my dealings with society.”
Chavez said that he felt he was doing a “good job for the city,” and that he plans on continuing that work in the sheriff’s office.