MILAN, NM – Everything is going well at the Milan Police Department, they are seeing a steady flow of calls with the hotter weather, there was also an increase in alarms that officers responded to due to the recent rainy weather.
With the ever-changing staff at the Milan Police Department, they have recently lost their Lieutenant Barabara Kohn leaving two open slots. They have a new individual starting at the department on July 8, and another that is set to attend the academy they also have multiple individuals interviewing for the final spot. The department has also recently hired a new code enforcement officer Blade Morris, and according to Police Chief Carl Ustupski he is doing very well at his job, and is sending out notices to individuals that are against code.
The department is always looking at various ways to improve their equipment. Recently they had a new repeater installed to improve radio quality for officers. Ustupski said, “There’s a cop movie, and there’s this guy that’s trying to get elected for some board, and he said his job is to get the officers the equipment they need to do their job… For us we’re getting hand me downs here and there, we’ve got older stuff, we’re updating as much as we can, but man it made sense that quote.” A lot of the equipment that MPD has is older and some of it outdated, when it comes to the old radios Ustupski said that he got those radios back in 2021 and that they are lucky that someone didn’t get killed. He said, “Three years not to have radios, that’s like having squads with no gas.” With the new repeater Ustupski said that it’s so much better and safer for officers.
As for recent crimes Ustupski said it’s important for businesses to have surveillance and lighting and it assists them to be able to solve and work on any crimes that were caught on those cameras. In Milan they recently had a shooting with an individual firing off multiple shots towards a vehicle. Detective Michael Porter is currently working on the case and has a few suspects for the shooting. The Chevron in Milan recently got broken into with suspects stealing a lot of money and it is currently being investigated.
Milan Police Department officers assisted with escorting for Run for the Wall and said that it went well. They also participated in the Special Olympics Torch Run with three officers participating in the run. The department has also recently received more grant funding for DWI prevention, which will be utilized for checkpoints and directed patrols. Ustupski said, “We traditionally do not get a lot of the grant funding because it’s been tough to work, but since I’ve got approved, I’ve worked a bunch of hours.” Two officers have also attended DWI training to assist them with checkpoints and directed patrols. The two new trucks for the department have been delayed again due to them having to order more parts. Originally the trucks were supposed to be complete by July 1.
Ustupski is working on setting up more training for his officers. Currently he is working with a connection in Wisconsin to bring a Green Lab, to train officers on the new laws with cannabis and the impaired levels when doing sobriety tests. The planning for this training is currently in the beginning stages but according to Ustupski they are hoping to conduct this training sometime in October. Ustupski said, “I don’t think anyone in New Mexico has done a Green Lab, which I think is important with the legalization [of cannabis] to let the officers actually do standardized testing on those that are impaired by marijuana. It’s early stages but it’s something that I’m working on that I think could be beneficial.” Another training that they are working on setting up is Active Shooter Response Training to prepare officers in case of an active shooter situation. Ustupski wants to conduct this training before the beginning of the school year and he said that they are thinking of doing it sometime in July. He said, “Just to run through some drills. We’ve got new officers, I mean I think everyone’s had the same training before, but just a refresher on it so we’re all on the same page for tactics.”