Roswell long on crime, short on cops

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - There aren't enough officers to fill the ranks of the Roswell Police Department.

The force is down 25 officers from it authorized strength of 96, and while the chief tries to get the positions filled, the community will see the effects.

Roswell Police Chief Al Solis said he's been forced to make changes due to the manpower shortage. That includes a lack of police presence at city schools.

At the start of the school year, Roswell Police had one school resource officer for the entire district, and was hoping to assign more. But, times are tough.

"Sadly to say, one of the things I resisted to the last minute is, I did not want to pull my resource officer out of the schools," explained Solis. "But I had to call the superintendent yesterday and tell them that it's come to the point that I'm going to have to pull my resource officer out."

That officer will be put on patrol, one of the changes RPD hopes is only temporary.

The department has lost officers for various reasons including cops transferring to other departments.

Solis said police will still respond to school calls and added the public should not worry.

"If anything, we might have a delay on some calls, and the reason for that is, because of that, we're prioritizing our calls," Solis explained. He said they sometimes get more than 100 calls per shift.

Solis said overtime for officers is through the roof, and although there's a need for officers, the department is meeting the standards for filling shifts.

"We have minimum staffing requirements," Officer Travis Holley said. "We have to have X amount of people to operate a shift, so wherever you can draw that manpower from, you have to do that."

Twelve-hour shifts have been discussed, but Solis wants to avoid that. He said he doesn't want officers to lose their edge.

But the recruitment process, he said, is cumbersome.

"One time I think we had 29 people that applied, and by the time it was all said and done, only two people made it through," Solis recalled.

Solis explained the process to become an officer is not quick.

"From the time we hire an officer to actually being able to put them out on the street, it's usually about a year," Solis said.

He said once people finish the application process, they have to go through academy training. Those last six months, and there are only about two a year.

In their effort to recruit , the Roswell Police Department is advertising in other states and reaching out to U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Roswell Daily Record reports the local gang problem contributes to the city and Chaves County having the highest rate of gunshot-related emergency room visits in the state.