Editorial: Portales police plagued with problems

At first, problems reported at the Portales Police Department appeared barely beyond ordinary, the kinds of things many small-town law agencies face as they train officers with limited experience.

But recently there have surfaced incidents of a far more serious nature: An officer had his wife with him when he crashed his police car running a red light in pursuit of a traffic violator; not properly destroying unneeded evidence; not properly documenting officers' proficiencies with weapons, and longtime Deputy Police Chief Lonnie Berry's February conviction for fixing a friend's traffic tickets.

Unfortunately, it now appears Berry's transgressions may not come close to being the department's greatest shame of 2012.

Last week, state police and district attorney investigators alleged in court documents that former Portales High School Resource Officer Victor Castillo maintained a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl he met at the school.

Through his attorney, Castillo professed his innocence to the 31 felony charges he faces.

Authorities say they found at least 10,000 photos of young girls on Castillo's cell phone — more than a dozen of them sexually explicit — and cautioned they are concerned there may be more victims connected to the school.

Castillo was placed on administrative leave with pay on July 11, police officials said, after the mother of a 16-year-old reported she believed Castillo was having "inappropriate interaction" with her daughter.

Two days later he was fired for failing to meet terms of his one-year probationary term as a Portales policeman, Lt. Mark Cage said.

Three weeks after that, Castillo was arrested for allegedly having criminal sexual contact with a minor, and much more.

All the problems highlight what an audit of the Portales Police Department, released in April, found, that Police Chief Jeff Gill had placed so much trust in his staff he has "effectively" been screened "from the actual operation of the department."

At that time Mayor Sharon King, Gill and some City Council members assured the community the problems the audit cited had been addressed before the findings became public knowledge. King even praised Gill for fixing the problems in just four months.

Clearly, the cultural deficiencies at the Portales Police Department that led to so many problems the past two years has not been fixed.

Then the Castillo incident surfaced in July and another officer, Mikel Aguilar, resigned earlier this month over an unrelated matter.

Aguilar stepped down after a New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy board member said Aguilar's certification had been suspended. It seems the officer had been accused of having sex in his patrol car while on duty as a Roswell police officer. Yet somehow that allegation either was ignored or not uncovered during his screening to protect and serve the Portales community.

And let's not forget the public still doesn't know why Officer Tyler Marney — who helped dethrone Berry by contacting the district attorney with concerns about the disappearing traffic citations — mysteriously resigned earlier this year. He has a "confidential agreement" with the city that neither side will discuss reasons for his departure.

All this begs the unsettling question the residents and the city's leaders are asking: What's next?

We hold law officers to high standards, asking that they be men and women of integrity and strong character who will uphold the public trust. We remain certain that describes the majority of Portales' police force.

But those who abuse that trust should be dealt with harshly and quickly by Portales leaders. If they do not, they risk further loss of public trust in City Hall and the police department.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis Media Inc. editorial board, which includes Publisher Ray Sullivan and Editor David Stevens.