Merging the Police

Diego Lopez, Reporter

GRANTS, N.M. – A crisp breeze filled the air in the mid-morning of August 5. There were puddles of water outside the Cibola County government complex reflecting the American flag that flies high over the complex. The complex was relatively empty on that Friday, when a meeting to discuss merging the different law enforcement agencies of Cibola into one metropolitan force took place. Initially set for 10 a.m., the meeting was going to gather Jeff Marez, Grants Police Chief; Carl Ustupski, Milan Police Chief; and Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace. Together, along with the managers of each respective government, to begin conversations that may lead to a combination of resources between the three agencies.

How the Meeting Fell Apart

Prior to the meeting date, the Cibola Citizen was told by an anonymous source that political candidates for office – who have not yet been elected – were invited to this meeting. Wanting to check on this rumor, a phone call was made to the home of Wesley Mallery – the Republican candidate for Cibola County Sheriff. He and his family were unaware of this meeting and had not been apprised. A phone call was then made to Larry Diaz, the Democrat candidate for Cibola County Sheriff, Diaz explained that he had already been invited to the meeting. On August 5, approximately 15 minutes before the meeting began, the Mallery family walked into the Cibola County government complex, as they approached the doors which lead into the county commission chambers, where official meetings take place inside the building, they found the doors locked, and the lights inside the meeting room were turned off.

Wanting an understanding as to why the meeting room was closed, the Citizen entered the Cibola County Manager’s office, the waiting room was empty. This is where the Citizen was informed that the meeting would be closed to the public. County Manager Kate Fletcher came out and explained that this meeting was never intended to hit the public sphere, “It’s not fair for the community to know about this before the commissioners,” she said. As she tried to step away, the Citizen reminded Fletcher that whether the county board of commissioners was aware of this meeting or not, the newspaper was aware, and has an obligation to get news to the people of Cibola.

Then, Fletcher said that the Friday meeting was merely entertaining an idea and beginning discussions about potentially merging the police forces. No action was taken at this meeting, and the only elected official in the room was Sheriff Tony Mace. No county commissioner, Grants city councilor, or village trustee was at the meeting.

Fletcher said that no one, not the press or the Mallery family would be allowed inside this meeting. After frank discussion, the question was posed, “If [the Cibola Citizen] is not allowed in this meeting, and if [the Mallery family] is not allowed in this meeting, what about Larry Diaz?”

Fletcher said that even Diaz would not be allowed to attend the meeting despite his invitation. An anonymous source in the county confirmed to the Citizen that Diaz was invited by Chief Marez.

As the Citizen was leaving the manager’s office, Milan Police Chief Ustupski was walking into the building. Just as chief Ustupski was approaching the manager’s office, Diaz stepped out of the room.

The Cibola County government complex is set up so there are rooms and hallways in the back where employees can move freely from department to department without needing to be out in the main hall where they can be disturbed by the public.

No person in the main hall witnessed Diaz enter the manager’s office, only exit.

Fletcher said that she did not initiate this meeting, and that the county only offered to host the meeting in the government complex, but that it did not invite specific people because it did not set up the meeting.

Inside the Meeting

GPD Chief Marez, Grants City Manager Donald Jaramillo, MPD Chief Ustupski, Village of Milan Manager Linda Cooke, Cibola County Sheriff Mace, Undersheriff Michael Munk were present at this meeting.

The only elected official in this meeting was Cibola County Sheriff Mace. If there had been a quorum of elected officials present at the meeting, it would have been an illegal assembly, but because there was no quorum, this meeting was legal under the New Mexico Open Meetings Act.

One of the first orders of business, according to eyewitness accounts, was discussing who invited the Citizen and the Mallery family. After a short-lived conversation that yielded no results to the question, business turned and focused on the topic at hand: Merging the police forces. According to sources inside the meeting there was little debate about merging the three area police forces. The Cibola County Sheriff’s Office was not interested at this time in the merger, and Milan Police Department’s largest fear was that resources would be centered around Grants and a merger would hurt response times in the Village of Milan.

Sources, which have requested to remain anonymous, claim that CCSO is not interested in the merger because Sheriff Mace is on the verge of leaving the position, and the department will soon be under new leadership which is expected to – regardless of who wins – create staffing changes in the department, meaning that any agreements made at this point would be premature because it is unclear who all will still be at the agency after a new sheriff steps in.

Milan Police Department was concerned that the village would lose out on police coverage because most of the law enforcement resources would be centered on Grants.

According to sources, both CCSO and MPD said that at the moment their departments are standing strong and not having any issues which would warrant a complete change of their operations.

Eyewitnesses said each police agency went around the table, confirming that they are not having any issues at the moment, until the discussion reached GPD. Conflicting reports ultimately agree that Chief Marez confirmed GPD was struggling.

Conversation than veered into compensation, currently, all three law enforcement agencies have different rates of pay and different benefits. Merging the three agencies would mean creating a uniform pay scale with uniform benefits. Currently, CCSO is the lowest paid law enforcement agency in Cibola, according to reports Sheriff Mace explained that his deputies would need better compensation if the agencies are merged.

Multiple sources in the meeting confirmed that discussion veered onto the subject of deputization. The sheriff has the ability to deputize people in Cibola, meaning that they can act in an official capacity as part of county law enforcement. According to sources, representatives from the City of Grants asked if, to increase police resources, the sheriff could deputize the officers from each agency, to which Sheriff Mace replied that he would not. Sources claim that Mace explained the liability behind deputization, and how it opens up the county to lawsuits. In the interest of protecting the county from lawsuits, Mace said he would not deputize every law enforcement officer in the county.

No decision was made at this meeting, but eyewitness accounts from the meeting show that there is not sufficient support from agencies to make this merger successful. At this point, the general election has not been held and Cibola has not decided its new sheriff.

The Cibola Citizen will continue to follow this story.