New Mexico State Police hold graduation ceremony for 100th class of recruits

Dec. 10—Law enforcement officers are the quarterbacks of society, New Mexico State Police Chief Tim Johnson told the department's 100th class of recruits at a graduation ceremony Friday.

"Praised for the wins, intense scrutiny for the losses," Johnson said while addressing his 19 new officers at the ceremony. "I want you to understand, even in the hard times, 99.9 percent of our citizens would lay down in traffic for us."

The 16 men and three women became officers before their families, friends, politicians, current and former law enforcement professionals, and peers in the department.

The graduation, held at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, was a mishmash of stoicism and celebration. The recruits — sitting with their hands placed firmly on their legs for the majority of the celebration — were each lavished with cheers when photographed on stage with Johnson.

Most cracked a smile.

"Doesn't it make you proud to see these young men and women, dedicated to New Mexico, families and public safety?" Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in an interview before the ceremony. "We want more of [them]. That means investing, making sure training is as effective as it is and telling [state police] ... 'We believe in you; we're going to invest in you; we're going to protect you in the same way you protect us.' "

Lujan Grisham and the state Legislature have prioritized law enforcement recruitment across New Mexico as the state has struggled with a combination of officer vacancies and rising rates of violent crime. Her office announced Friday it had distributed the remaining $8.5 million from a $50 million Law Enforcement Recruitment Fund created for local agencies through legislation approved earlier this year.

Among the recipients of this final round of funding were the Santa Fe Police Department and the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.

The governor and Legislature also set aside $17 million to bolster the ranks of state police.

New Officer Cassius Trujillo, who will serve in Española, is following the career path of his father, who was a lieutenant in the department. He started the process of becoming an officer after seeing one of his best friends go through the academy.

"Seeing how good he was doing in life and how well that projected him, it really [hit] home for me to where, you know, I want to do that myself," Trujillo said. "To be able to do well for my family and help everybody out."

The 19 graduates endured 16 weeks of training away from their families and the lives they were accustomed to. Lt. Mark Soriano said about 36 people started the academy's 100th class, but nearly half did not make it through the program.

The academy teaches numerous skills, Soriano said, from firearms training and defensive tactics to collecting evidence, addressing mental health crises and even how to eat and drive.

"You're away from your family, and you're learning. You're transitioning from a civilian — the civilian world — into a police officer," Soriano said.

Each recruit's training will continue with a field training officer, he added.

"I knew I always wanted this career path," Officer Victoria Chacon said after the ceremony. "When I looked at the New Mexico State Police, I saw ... just by looking at them, their uniform is so squared away and they're full of pride and honor.

"I [knew] that I wanted to be a part of that as well, and I wanted to just be part of something bigger than myself," she said.

Chacon will start her career in Ruidoso.

Officer Xavier Garcia, who will work in Santa Rosa, said he's nervous because police work is new: "But I am confident. I'm not afraid to go out and talk to the public because they're the people that I'm here to represent. ... I'm not afraid to go out and face the good and the bad."

Mark Radosevich retired from state police in 1999 as a captain. Having been part of the 36th recruit class — which graduated in 1978 — Radosevich said it was meaningful to witness the 100th class become officers.

"It speaks well of the agency — the history, the tradition and the service the organization provides to the citizens," Radosevich said. "I think [the new officers] face different challenges. I think they were pushed the same way we were pushed, but what they have to deal with now, and the preparation that's required for them, is much more than I had to go through."

Tim Baughman, who retired in 2008 as a major in the department, said he had watched all of the "chief staff" present at Friday's ceremony go through the academy, and it was crazy to see the 100th class "take that mantle."

He spent three days with the recruits at the academy as part of a "retiree-mentor thing."

"Part of my deal that I talked to them about was they don't stand on the foundation that was built before them," Baughman said. "They live up to that foundation and help build it up.

"I remember being that young, scared, stepping-into-a-new-world guy. ... All of us remember that day. This day. And it just goes by fast."