Cloudcroft Police and Village Clerk Resignations: Behind the Scenes and the Path Forward

2nd Life Media affiliated Alamogordo Town News, Alamogordo Conservative Weekly and KALHRadio.org were the first news orginizations to break the news of 3/4 of Cloudcrofts police department resigning and the village clerk. Since launching our first story our investigative team has been working diligently around the clock for the last 24 hours interviewing a variety of officials to gain insight for the public of the events leading up to the mass resignations and then the go forward plan for the Village of Cloudcroft.

Our team of reporting consists of Anthony Lucero hosting radio interviews via our KALHRadio.org affilation, Mica Maynard digging to get background information and Chris Edwards also speaking with elected leaders and compiling the information for our readers, radio and podcast listeners.

The story begins as reported in our prior story of the announced resignation of the Cloudcroft Police Chief, Mike Testa. Following his resignation Village Clerk, Shaela Hemphill, whose resigned. Her resignation was a shock to some trustees, after receiving praise for managing her first budgeting session for 2024. Then came the resignation of Deputy Chief David Sanchez and Officer Calib Bruce effectively immediately and leaving only 1 officer to remain; Officer Chris Swanson. Thus, 3/4th of the police force resigned effective immediately.

2nd Life Media affiliates reached out to village leadership for comment. Anthony Lucero of 2nd Life Media's Alamogordo Town News Radio edition first interviewed Trustee Gail McCoy. Her complete interview can be heard in the link below...

https://youtu.be/axqgO4AZTRw?si=S4CtFPhOSbq1uhxE

Per Mrs. McCoy claimed that "we had some issues with the officers." She said, "things were changing with a new administration and changing for the good."

The issue appears to be that the new adminstration consists of a new mayor and two new trustees and with the recent spike in crime the village trustees made the decision that Cloudcroft should come into compliance with every other municipality in Otero County and have 24 hour, 7 day a week police protection. The Chief of police who was reportedly very well paid per New Mexico standards for such as small town with a salary of $72,000 a year, he stated that he "did not sign up for this," per reporting in the Cloudcroft Reader.

Trustee, Tim King suggested that the discontent was driven by the police not wanting to work the night shifts. The goal is 24/7 coverage and the "village was not covered at night." Our readers can hear his comments below...

https://youtu.be/ac_X3dPbq2I?si=jitqxCTFjyK8Uuig

Cloudcroft Trustee Foster suggest that their "commitment to the Village was to provide as true of 24/7 coverage as we could. All the officers were told that at the beginning of our tenure in January. So, in my honest opinion, they were given five months to rectify it themselves.” Hear her complete commentary below.

https://youtu.be/WfBXT2jZXBY?si=OJcssewFrw8KkL7m

The Mayor of Cloudcroft interviewed with Anthony Lucero and explained that the "police department needs to launch a Panama Schedule which is used by the sheriffs office and Alamogordo." The schedule is a 12 hour schedule and he stressed that the village has "a strong partnership with the state police and the sheriffs office to ensure converage." The mayor explained that he is doing what his "heart tells him is the right thing to do and that is to have 24 hour coverage."

The complete interview with the mayor can be heard below...

https://youtu.be/nRuZO-t5pEk?si=XTUmiCIZ3vBdBKAk

Additionally, the Mayor Craig Turner of the Village of Cloudcroft released the following letter to the citizens...

Mayor Turner concluded his media comments with this thought: “I feel like what I'm doing is the right thing. Is it going to be painful for a while? Yes, it will. And will there be some unhappy residents of the village with me? I am not naive about that, but my heart of heart is that I believe that the village's safety is my number one responsibility. And I believe what I'm doing is right.”

2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News appreciates each elected representative for taking the time to chat with us to better inform the public of the events with facts from the city leadership. Most citizens assume our cities all have 24 hour around the clock police coverage. While we were researching for this story we were each surprised to hear that Cloudcroft was operating without around the clock police protection. With the rash of recent crimes in Cloudcroft and the uptick in crime nationwide, we certainly believe the decision of the commission best serves the community of Cloudcroft best for the long term.

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