4-26-2023 6:45pm

Are Tularosa Police Certified and in State Compliance?

Chris Edwards Editor

On April 1st, 2023 the AlamogordoTownNews.com news organization and KALHRadio.org ran a story concerning an allegation that several police officers within the Tularosa Village Police Department did not have certification, or were out of compliance with state regulations concerning training and certifications.

Anthony Lucero of Krazy KALHRadio.org conducted an interview with an individual that made the accusation. We then responsibly, immediately reached out to the mayor and vice mayor of Tularosa for comment. We reached via email and phone to the mayor and vice mayor and received no call nor email back for a response on March 31st.

On April 5th per our standard operating procedure when dealing with a city, County, Village or legal government entity, and in full compliance with state laws regarding IPRA requests, we then submitted an information request via the “village clerk” seeking comment and copies of Officer certifications under the assumption this was probably a false accusation.

Our initial thought was the village would quickly refute the allegations, with the necessary paperwork, as proof of certifications and the story would be put to bed easily.

The clerk is the responsible custodian of records for governmental entities per state law. The law requires initial contact with the clerks office to ensure proper compliance and governance in tracking IPRAs.

Copy of the initial request is below…

As of April 11th, we heard NO response nor acknowledgement of our IPRA request.

The law requires acknowledgement within 3 days.

On April 20th we received an email from the clerk explaining, she had been on vacation and was responding to the email late.

On April 21st the clerk then emailed AlamogordoTownNews.com and KALHRadio.org a copy of minutes from a village commission meeting on Jan 4th. The minutes reflected a pay raise to $18.50 an hour for police officers (certified and non-certified) but the minutes did NOT reflect any of our questions nor requested data per our IPRA. We requested proof of certification of all officers and proof that the village was in full compliance of the law. None of that information was provided.

On April 24 we received the following email from the clerk…

We then received a phone message from Mr. Boyle scolding us for not reaching directly to him. We then invited him to call Anthony Lucero for an interview. He left a message told Anthony to call back and have a call patched through to him. Mr Lucero attempted multiple times to no avail.

Thus we then sent an email to Mr. Boyle at 1:53 pm yesterday again asking for clarification of facts and to supply the certifications to us.

We suggested provide us proof and it puts the issue to bed.

Mr Boyle then submitted an email to us claiming the allegations were false yet again failed to provide us proof the allegations were false…

His response was they “do not” have individuals working uncertified beyond the 1 year legal threshold. He claimed there is a decommissioned officer but he is on “administrative duty”only. He claims all “are commissioned and the allegations are false.”

We again asked him for a phone conversation with Mr. Lucero

And as of 6:30 pm on Wednesday we have not connected to complete the requested interview with Mr. Lucero.

We still have NOT received written proof of certifications of any police officers nor have we yet to receive any minutes, internal memos nor response to the actual initial IPRA requests for proof to dispel the allegations against the department. As such we submitted one final IPRA request copying both the clerk of the village and the chief of police for proof of certifications and a complete response to the IPRA requests

State law is very clear on the process and and response times for IPRA’s. We were very understanding in the vacation excuse though the law would be less forgiving. We continue to want to bring closure to this issue and dispel the allegations. However, the documentation as requested via our IPRA requests, we are in suspect of the explanations provided by staff.

The failure of the Mayor, Vice Mayor to initially respond, the timeline of response, and the failure to provide proper information to date, as requested with proof of certifications; makes citizens and this news agency wonder about accountability, process and information integrity within the village of Tularosa, New Mexico.

Stay turned to AlamogordoTownNews.com and KALHRadio.org as this is an evolving story and we will not let up until the IPRA requests are completed.