Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff Writer
While demonstrations against local police departments are transpiring on a national level, New Mexico citizens are also reeling from
controversial videos of police use of force from this year.
Most recently in Clovis, a video surfaced of an officer taking down a handcuffed Jorge Corona during an Aug. 3 traffic stop, breaking Corona’s cheek.
In March, the Albuquerque Police Department followed homeless, mentally ill James Boyd into the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and shot him six times after an hour-long standoff.
Officer-involved killings of civilians in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York have fired up nationwide protests that dominate national news.
Clovis Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Daron Roach said while the department is not doing anything different, officers are always cognizant of current events and are extra cautious. He added that they encourage everybody in the community to be cautious.
In an Oct. 31 letter to the editor, Ken Regnier wondered if the events in Ferguson began a shift in social norms, stirring the community to pay more attention to small town law enforcement.
Retired educator Jose Griego of Clovis said the March shooting of Boyd by the Albuquerque Police Department hit close to home.
“What happened in Albuquerque affects all of us,” Griego said, who participated in demonstrations in Albuquerque. “That police department affects the rest of the departments in the state of New Mexico.”
Griego said the best thing for people to do in Clovis is become educated about what’s going on.
“When it comes to my hometown, I want to be a force that is positive. Not one that would hinder,” said Griego, a one-time candidate for city commission.
Each of the events in Clovis, Albuquerque, Ferguson and New York included video surfacing. Clovis Officer Brent Aguilar’s takedown of Corona went viral when anonymously posted on You Tube, prompting police to take the unusual step of publicly announcing the event was under internal investigation.
Clovis resident Carolyn Spence said videos of police contact with civilians can be useful, but are missing important information.
“I think what’s missing is background information about what’s going on in a video,” Spence said. “There’s a certain behavior expected when a person is dealing with a police officer…without understanding that you might think the police officer is being bad when for his job description he is dealing appropriately.”
Aguilar was returned to duty in November after an investigation revealed he would not be criminally charged in connection to the traffic stop.
Officials have declined to comment on whether or not Aguilar was disciplined.
Roach said the Clovis Police Department follows stringent policies regarding use of force, and those policies are available for any citizen through the police department training supervisor or the records department.
