Taos law enforcement sweat, drive on display

Criticism of law enforcement agencies across the country has been significant in recent years and certainly in 2016. And for good reason.

Protests and civil unrest have come to many U.S. cities and towns, often sparked by incidents of excessive force and criminal activity by police.

A big ignition point of recent memory was the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It sparked considerable tensions (which still exist) in the predominantly black city.

Closer to home, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Albuquerque police lapel camera videos have been altered or deleted. The investigation comes as the city goes through federal court-ordered reforms for the Albuquerque Police Department. Those reforms were put into motion soon after the high-profile shooting of homeless man James Boyd more than two years ago in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains.

And, indeed, there have been incidents of police being shot at and assaulted. Dallas comes to mind, where five officers were killed and nine others injured in an ambush last summer.

Police were shot at just last week south of Taos. Luckily, the alleged shooter missed two New Mexico State Police officers during the incident, and three suspects are now in custody after a massive law enforcement effort. It appears no one was injured in the incident. To be sure, the case is far from over and is still being worked by the courts and investigators.

It’s just one example of a very busy law enforcement scene in Taos County, one that often operates behind the scenes on a shoestring budget and with less than a full staff.

Members of the Taos Police Department, Taos County Sheriff’s Department, New Mexico State Police Taos district office and Taos Pueblo Tribal Police put themselves at risk every time they go to work.

Calls and incidents run the gamut, from dealing with a fight at Kit Carson Electric Co-op to a driver shooting a gun in the air at the Taco Bell drive-thru because it was closed — law enforcement officers deal with it all. And during the more volatile and dangerous situations, investigators and law enforcement have stepped it up. Recent examples include not only the suspects in the most recent shooting south of Taos, but painstaking work on the case of Ivan Romero, who, along with members of his family and other defendants, pled guilty to a variety of drug charges recently. And sheriff’s deputies just arrested Rafael Orozco, the man who made national news when he allegedly struck his wife at Holy Cross Hospital – and his newborn baby – before fleeing the scene. There are many more examples.

Taos County is a different animal than a Ferguson, Missouri, or a Chicago or Albuquerque. And it’s right for the public, the media and others to hold law enforcement agencies to the highest of standards.

By most accounts, the men and women in Taos County law enforcement — and ancillary agencies such as dispatch, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, search and rescue, emergency medical services and more — work hard, are professional and deserve our respect and support. Especially in the dangerous and volatile moments, when public safety is paramount in big and tangible ways.

Taos County can serve as an example of a community that keeps communication open with its law enforcement and, conversely, law enforcement can be such that it truly “protects and serves” us.