Grants Police Chief to Resign

Diego Lopez, Reporter

GRANTS, N.M. – On Thursday, August 11, Grants Police Chief Jeff Marez submitted his letter of resignation to the City of Grants. According to sources familiar with the matter, Marez’ last day as chief will be September 11. The Cibola Citizen attempted to reach out to Marez, but did not hear back in time for deadline.

Marez’ Legacy

Marez became police chief after significant turmoil in the City of Grants, especially with the police department, reached a peak. As the dust settled around Grants Police Department, Marez rose up to correct the course of GPD and bring it into line.

His efforts were hampered by a depleted fleet of cars and aged equipment. A young staff meant that several of his officers have been away at various trainings, leaving the department shorthanded at times it needed the most amount of help. COVID19 did not help the situation, making its way through the department and further straining valuable resources.

To aide the department in a time of vehicle shortages, Marez began a bike patrol team within the department which could still patrol the community, increase police visibility, and keep the streets safe.

Grants saw two bank robberies which have still gone unsolved. In May, the Red Shoe Robber attacked Well’s Fargo on First Street, stealing an undisclosed amount of money. Officers were on bike patrol at the time because there were not enough cruisers for the whole department. Exactly one month later, in June, the same bank was once again robbed. Again, police were unable to stop the robbery. Bank robberies are federal jurisdiction, not municipal or state, so the Federal Bureau of Investigation has since taken the robberies under their investigative authority. Despite the struggles, Marez secured new firearms for Grants Police Department early on in his time as chief, and after struggling to secure new vehicles for the police fleet, he eventually managed to lock up the purchase of new fully equipped police cruisers.

Grants police pursuit policy came into question after a high-speed pursuit down Santa Fe Avenue

After almost seven months on the job, Grants Police Chief Jeff Marez will retire from police work. He was hired in February 2022 and will leave the position on September 11. Mayor Erik Garcia gave glowing praise to the outgoing chief, who has, despite staffing struggles, managed to keep Grants Police Department afloat while modernizing the department.

destroyed a traffic light pole on the intersection of Santa Fe Ave. and NM Highway 53, on the west part of town. Then again, after another pursuit ended in a fatal accident that claimed the lives of two local residents and injured their two daughters.

To help reduce speeds, find stolen vehicles, and help solve crimes, Marez spoke with the admin staff at Milan Police Department and was able to successfully secure cameras for the city that will help modernize GPD and give them an upper hand against crime in the city. Staffing struggles continued to persist as more officers had to be sent for state mandated training. A meeting was held recently to combine the police resources in Cibola, sources inside the meeting claimed that this was held because Grants Police Department was struggling to manage the area. Marez submitted his letter of resignation days after the meeting. Grants Mayor Erik Garcia said that Marez was not pushed out, and that the city will miss Marez. “The police chief I will be looking for is Jeff,” the mayor said. “He’s a great chief and he has a young family. He is looking for something new in life… He’s awesome, man. He’s not leaving because of any ill will, I get why he’s leaving, I like to spend time with my son, too.” Mayor Garcia said that Marez is, “A good leader. We did not see these coming, good leaders are to find. I don’t know if this next chief will come from inside the department or not, it’s a young staff, but we will be posting the job opportunity soon.” The job opening was posted on Facebook the morning of August 16. Salary is dependent on experience. Applicants must have an associate’s degree, preferably in criminal justice, a minimum of 10 years in law enforcement with five years of professional police management experience with the rank of at least lieutenant.