Q&A: Clovis police chief talks staffing, scams

Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Roy Rice is the chief of police at the Clovis Police Department.

Q: The city recently approved a $5,000 sign-on bonus for new hires in the police department. What else are you doing to recruit?

A: We still utilize media sources such as Facebook, internet advertising programs and radio advertising. Word of mouth is one of the best methods, and we receive better responses from personal recruiting. This form includes the job fairs and handing out business cards to individuals.

Q: How many openings do you have? And how would you describe staffing -- doing OK or just enough to get by? Is it in critical condition?

A: Presently, we have 15 vacancies for police officers and public safety aides, one dispatcher and one animal control officer. We are OK as for staffing. The officers are working lots of overtime covering shifts and events. We have a dedicated group of officers, many of whom are from Clovis, and they make sure the community is served.

Q: A phone scammer recently used your name and got away with about $10,000 from a California woman. Any word on whether the victim was able to recover her money?

A: No, I doubt we will ever hear anything else about this incident.

Q: Scammers seem to be getting better at fooling people these days. What suggestions do you have to prevent becoming a victim?

A: People have been conned by scammers for many years. The best way to prevent the most obvious scammers is to ask them for their information, name, address, ID #, telephone number, etc. Do not give personal information over the phone. If you have any questions, ask them. If the people are legitimate, they will answer your questions and not pressure you. Law enforcement and bill collectors do not accept gift cards. If in doubt, call the local police or sheriff's department.

Q: Recreational cannabis use has been legal in New Mexico for 17 months. Do you have any statistics that suggest violent crime is up or down as a direct result of this change? What about traffic citations? Are there more impaired drivers on the road?

A: The answer to this question is no. Currently we do not have any means to determine whether a person is under the influence of recreational cannabis or to what extent. As for impaired driving, this number is fairly consistent each month.

Q: Labor Day is Monday, which means summer is unofficially over. How do crime tendencies change -- or do they -- when we move from warm weather to cooler weather?

A: The only significant change we usually have reported is the type of juvenile occurrences.

Q: Who is your all-time favorite fictional crime fighter, and why? All-time favorite TV crime show, and why? And who is your all-time favorite fictional villain, and why?

A: My all-time favorite fictional crime fighter is Dirk Pitt from the author, Clive Cussler. He is adventurous and his antics are practically believable. I met Clive Cussler on a flight from Florida to Dallas. He was my row partner on the plane, and we had a nice visit. I will miss his work. My all-time favorite TV crime show would be Adam 12, closely followed by Batman and the Green Hornet. I have had an interest in law enforcement since the Saturday Morning Westerns and cartoons. Who is my favorite fictional villain? Dick Dastardly (from Hanna-Barbera cartoons). There isn't enough room to speak of his antics and defeats in your paper. But if you or the readers know of him, they will understand and snicker at the thought of his name. If they don't know him and Muttley (Dastardly's cartoon dog), they need to do some research.

- Compiled by Landry Sena, the Staff of the News