Brochure for Farmington police chief

7/27/2019 Brochure for Farmington police chief

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Dam. Nearly an hour and a half in separatedirections are two world-class ski locations.Hot spots for house boating, four wheeling,and hiking are in the area as well. Mountain

bike trails abound and the City is home to amunicipal golf course that is routinely rankedas one of the top ve in the country. Baseballof all sorts is a popular leisure activity.Te City

is home to the annual Connie Mack WorldSeries and both of the local high school teams,Farmington High and Piedra Vista High, haveclaimed the State Championships from 2005-2008 and 2010-2011 respectively. San JuanPlaza in Farmington is also home to the annualstrongman competitions and the annual power

weight lifing and body building competition.

Te City has a regional shopping mall and draws

many of the 350,000 who live in the surroundingarea. Te City has over 100 restaurants thatits citizens can explore and relish. Availableoptions include Asian, Barbeque, Mexican,and the unique New Mexican style that blendsSpanish, Native American, and Mexicancuisine into exquisite tastes. Tese restaurantsadd culture and variety to the halcyon life stylethat Farmington residents enjoy. For those whodesire the world class dining, Durango, CO,

with its internationally renowned ski-resorts

and shopping, is a short 50 mile drive from theCity. Many locals go and spend the evening or

weekend in Durango enjoying the sights andculture of the resort community.

On the practical side of life, Farmington isa great place to raise a family. In addition tothe many activities already mentioned, theCity has 77 parks covering nearly 1,800 acres.Housing prices are reasonable, the communityis safe, and schools are solid. A typical 3-bed/2-

bath home will cost between $175,000 and$225,000. More upscale living is available forthose who would like to spend a bit more.Finally, any student willing to work hard andstudy is able to get a great education in thepublic schools.

History

Tousands of years ago, Puebloan Indians farmed the land and builtstone and adobe cities whose remnants can still be seen today. Othertribes that inhabited the region included the Utes, the Navajo, andthe Apaches. Te Navajo Nation was later founded in the westernhalf of San Juan County, the County in which Farmington is locatedIn 1540, Francisco Coronado and his men searched the area for the

fabled and allegedly fabulously wealthy Seven Cities of Cibola.

In 1901, the City incorporated with a population of slightly over 500people. A short four years later, the railroad connected Farmington

with several other major western cities including Durango, ColoradoTis avenue of transit created a signicant boom in the economy. Inthe 1920s there was signicant investment in natural gas and oil in


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0.53 0.61 0.78 0.65 0.54 0.21 0.90 1.26 1.04 0.91 0.68 0.50 8.61

in the City at any given time, especially weekends, can be muchgreater. Some estimates have Farmingtons weekend population atover 100,000.

Farmingtons populations median age is slightly under the nationaaverage, 32.7 as opposed to 37.2. Table I to the lef breaks down thepopulation by age.

In terms of race, the population is 66.2% Caucasian, 21.5% AmericanIndian, 1% African American and the remainder of the population

being made up of other races or more than one race. Hispanics (of alraces) compose 22.4% of the population.

Per the 2010 census, the median household income is $52,980, whilethe mean is $71,558.Te unemployment rate was 5.8% in July 201314.3% of the population has not graduated high school, 29.5% havea high school degree, 25.8% have nished some college, 10.3% havean associates degree, 12.7% have a bachelors degree, and 7.4% have

completed graduate work.

Climate

Te weather is gorgeous with warm temperatures and litle humidityfew mosquitoes and a near absence of other bothersome insectsFarmington is classied as having a semi-arid climate with warmsummers and mild winters. See Table II for climate information.

An average of 273 sunny days per year means that year-round outdooractivities are not only possible but very enjoyable.

Geography

Farmington is in the high desert region of northwestern NewMexico. It lies at the conuence of the Animas, La Plata, and San

Juan Rivers. Te City lies in a fertile river valley surrounded by highdesert (i.e., very dry ground), rolling plateaus, mesas, mountainranges to the north, east, and west. It is approximately 5,400 feetabove sea level. Overall the City covers 33.1 square miles.Te NavajoIndian Reservationis west of Farmington, the Ute Mountain Indian

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the area, although actual production remained

low until the 1950s. With construction of adeveloped road connecting Farmington to U.S.Route 66 and Albuquerque in the 1940s, andthe construction of the San Juan Basin NaturalGas Pipeline in 1953, the population expandedsignicantly (from 3,637 in 1950 to 35,000 in1953) and the growth continued afer that.However, the signicant connection to theenergy industry has made the City vulnerableto international market uctuations.

Over time the economy diversied to somedegree and the population steadily grew to itscurrent level of approximately 45,000.

Demographics

While Farmington, statistically speaking, onlyhas a population of roughly 45,000, due to itsstatus as a commercial hub for a region with apopulation of 350,000, the number of people

Table l: Population by Age

Table II: Climate Data for Farmington, NM

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Age Bracket

Under 10

10 to 20

20 to 30

30 to 40

40 to 50

50 to 60

16.40 %

14.30 %

15.40 %

13.00 %

12.00 %

13.10 %

Percent

60 to 707 .90 %

8.60 %70 +

Source: U.S. Census
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Reservation is to the northwest, and the Southern Ute IndianReservationis northeast of the city.

Commerce

Possibly the best measure of commercial activity is the grossreceipts tax. 42% of the receipts result from the retail trade,30% from services, 6% from mining, 5% from wholesale trade,

5% from construction and 13% from other activities. Te areasmajor employers are displayed above in Table III.Te Government

Farmington operates under a Council/Manager form ofgovernment.Te Council consists of a Mayor and four CouncilMembers. Te Mayor is elected at large directly by voters, andall the other Council Members are directly elected by district.

All serve staggered four-year terms, with the elections falling inMarch of even numbered years. Farmington does not have term

limits.

Farmington is a full service city including a municipal golf courseand electric, water and sewer utilities.

Te current City Manager assumed the position in 2007 and iswell respected. His leadership style is to delegate, empower hisemployees to make decisions and to hold his staffaccountable.He and his current Police Chief confer regularly and, while

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Table IIl: Principal Area Employers

Source: Farmington Citizen's Financial Report 2010

he grants the Chief a great deal of freedom andautonomy, he expects to be kept well informed.

Te Police Department

Due to Farmingtons location and status as aregional center, the Police Department is similarin size to cities with populations of 100,000 rather

than the 45,000 population the City currentlyhas. Te Department has 135 sworn officersand approximately 40 non-sworn personnel. Italso has about 25 part-time employees (such asschool crossing guards) for a total of roughly 200employees. Personnel within the Department aredivided into the following budgetary divisions

Administration, Operations, School CrossingGuards, Code Compliance, Detectives, GangsK-9, School Resource Officer, SWAT/Bombs

Traffi

c, Training, Crime Lab, Records andEvidence, and Police Grants. Te Departmentalso has a SWAT Team, a Bomb Squad, and K-9units, which ofen respond outside of the citylimits proper. Ten of the Departments officers areparticipating in the regional narcotics and gangtask force. Each of these teams is a regional playeras Farmington is the largest City and serves muchof San Juan County and the surrounding area.TeDepartment uses the County jail which is locatedin Farmington.

Te Departments overall budget is $15,600,000Operationally, the City receives approximately70,000 calls for service a year and makes 7,000arrests a year. Te employees are not unionizedhaving overwhelmingly voted to decertifyapproximately four years ago. Te Department isaccredited by the Commission on Accreditationfor Law Enforcement Agencies and has been since1995. It is also very well equipped.

Te Challenges

Farmington is not a sleepy litle town so planon being busy if you are selected to be the nextPolice Chief. From an operational side, the PoliceDepartment routinely confronts issues withalcohol. DWIs and street inebriates are commonLast year, 640 DWI arrests were made and 2,105

were placed in protective custody. Much of the

1,520

1,223

1,193

1,039

773

720

700

563

504

432

Employer Employees

San Juan Regional Medical Center

Central Consolidated Schools

Farmington Public Schools

BHP Billiton/New Mexico Coal

City of Farmington

Conoco Phillips

San Juan County

San Juan College

Arizona Public Service

Bloomeld Municipal Schools
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Mountain_Indian_Reservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ute_Indian_Reservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ute_Indian_Reservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ute_Indian_Reservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ute_Indian_Reservationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Mountain_Indian_Reservation


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surrounding region is dry including thenearby reservation and, as a result, peoplecome to Farmington to purchase alcoholHence, drunk driving and public intoxicationoccur fairly regularly.

Second, the isolation of the municipalitiesin and surrounding the Farmington area

is both a challenge and an opportunity forthe Department. On one hand, it allowsFarmington to be a regional player and take thelead on many law enforcement enterprises in thearea. It also allows Farmington a competitiveadvantage in seeking and receiving many grantsfrom the Department of Homeland Securityfor top-notch equipment for the departmentsspecialty teams. However, the isolation proveschallenging as well. It is difficult for department

personnel to receive additional assistancequickly in times of crisis, and Farmingtonofficers have to be incredibly sound in theiroperations and tactical decisions. As a resultthe Department is one of the best-traineddepartments in the entire state and it will needto maintain and enhance this emphasis ontraining under the administration.

Tird, administratively speaking, staffing at theupper levels of the Department is a signicant

issue. Due to recent changes by the legislaturein the New Mexico retirement system, severaofficers, including ve of the nine membersof the Departments command staff will beretiring before the changes take effect next July1st. While the department is well trained, andsignicant succession planning has occurredthis turnover will place the Department in astate of ux. On the other hand, it does providethe new Chief with an opportunity to selectseveral key staff.

Finally, the Farmington community is verydiverse. Ideally the composition of theDepartment would reect the compositionof the community. At the very least, bridgesto the various communities (particularlyHispanics and Navajos) must be maintainedand strengthened.


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Te Ideal Candidate

Te ideal candidate will have the followingcharacteristics:

Leadership Ability: Te next Chief will needto be a natural leader. He or she will be highlyethical and will win the condence of the troops

as well as the public. Te individual will thinkstrategically, always looking over the horizonso as to solve problems before they becomeissues. In terms of public leadership, he or she

will be equally comfortable speaking one-on-one with the everyday citizen as to a reporter infront of a TV camera. Te individual will also

be involved in the community.

Managerial Ability: While the Chief will not

need to be a working Chief, he or she will needto be a certied and commissioned officer.Te department culture demands that theChief spend time with his troops and practicemanagement by walking around. Te nextChief will need to continue this patern. Heor she will both know how to manage theirpersonnel, as well as manage their department.

Politically Astute: Occupying a high levelposition in the city government, the Chief will

understand local politics but not be politicallyinvolved.

Experienced with Strong Tactical Skills:Due to Farmingtons isolation, the Chief willneed to be knowledgeable and experienced ina wide variety of areas in law enforcement. AChief with a strong tactical background will benecessary to oversee the agency.

Strong Decision Making:With the complexityof law enforcement in Farmington, the nextChief will need to make difficult decisions andto do so without outside assistance. At times,he or she will need to be comfortable makingthe right call based on experience, training, andin concert with law enforcement best practices.He or she will also need the courage to stand byand defend that decision.

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Customer Service Oriented Atitude:Te next Chief will need tohave the velvet and steel approach that is critical to the success of anymanagerial position in Law Enforcement. He or she will need to beresponsive to the needs of the everyday citizen, while also holdingrm to legal and department standards. He or she will also need toremember that, as the City Manager put it, the customer may notalways be right, but they are still the customer!

Collaborative Atitude:Te next Chief will need to maintain andbuild upon the regional partnerships that Farmington has alreadyestablished with neighboring police departments. Teamwork is keyand the next Chief will need to get to know neighboring leaders and

build bridges of trust and cooperation with them.

Practical Atributes:Te next Chief will need to have at least abachelors degree in a eld related to law enforcement. A Mastersdegree is highly desirable. He or she will also have at least 5 yearsof professionally progressive command experience as a Deputy

Chief (or equivalent) or Chief in another department. While notrequired at the time of hire, the Chief must obtain certication as alaw enforcement officer from the State of New Mexico. Graduationfrom the FBI National Academy is strongly preferred and may beconsidered in lieu of a Masters degree. Experience with tacticalteams such as SWAT or others is a plus.


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Brochure for Farmington police chief

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