By Roger Lanse

A check of Silver City Police Department blotters for the month of October revealed that from Oct. 1 through Oct. 18 there were 6 entries for COVID 19 with no arrests. From Oct. 19 through Oct. 28, however, 48 entries are noted with 13 citations, all for not obeying the town's wearing of masks ordinance. During September, Portillo said, there were three calls for COVID 19 related offenses and no citations, as this was warning period.

SCPD Chief Freddie Portillo cautioned that of those 54 blotter entries labeled COVID 19, 13 were due to complaint calls, while the remaining 41 were the result of department-initiated sweeps of parks and businesses. The 13 citations were occasioned by both the complaint calls and the department-initiated activities. "Our biggest complaint right now is people not wearing masks."

Portillo stated when officers are on routine patrol they do a lot of business checks responding to other types of calls like property crimes and violent crimes. Even though they may enforce the mask ordinance on those calls as well, the blotter classification will show business checks, not COVID 19.

According to Portillo, funding for the additional COVID 19 patrol duties is coming from COVID grants from the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. Those grants are primarily being used for upgrading of equipment and overtime salaries for COVID 19-related activities, he said.

Portillo stated that Officer Leticia Lopez, with Priscila Lucero, Executive Director of the Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments, and other individuals, worked hard to get this grant funding for the department to help alleviate the pressure of the new undertaking and especially to upgrade the equipment. "The first thing we upgraded was our radios, which we just purchased -- handheld radios. We're going to get computers, because we're going to be upgrading our software and our CAD (computer-aided-dispatch) system.

"We've (also) applied for a community policing grant, a canine grant for the narcotics division, and a JAG grant. We're really exploring our grant opportunities to try to get us more tools that we need.

"As you can tell with the blotter for this month, they're (COVID 19 calls) not overwhelming like other municipalities. We've only gotten 13 calls all month. That's what's great about this COVID grant, we can use overtime funding to target high crime areas and also enforce the masks. We put together operations -- detectives, narcotics division, patrol division. Get out there and target high crime areas and be proactive and utilize that overtime funding just for that. And then to set up operations also, as we're doing this month, to focus on public health order violations along with the mask ordinance. That's really what has helped us – this COVID 19 grant funding."

Additional funds from the town for actually hiring another officer or two do not seem to be forthcoming, as Portillo stated the budget for the police department has already been set and the department is allotted 32 officers and it's been that way for years. "That's what we have to work with. Right now we have three openings. We're trying to recruit. We're really trying to recruit. Getting officers hired."

According to Portillo, there is grant funding for additional officers, but it only lasts for a few years then the department has to pick up the tab. The department and the town has looked into this type of funding, Portillo said, but it's not something they want to jump into right now, it's too risky.

The response of people being warned or cited varies, but is generally good, Portillo said. "We have a high compliance rate. Some people do have a medical condition. We don't question or dig into what medical condition they have. We do encourage people that if you have a medical condition, have some type of medical documentation that you can provide to us. Because a person that tells us they have a medical condition but there's no documentation, technically we can still cite them."

In answer to a question, Portillo offered that officers have responded to only one individual so far that refused to comply with the mask order. He was charged with obstructing, resisting, or evading a peace officer.

It's the officer's discretion whether to warn or cite an individual violating the health order, Portillo said. They can issue a written warning to the person, issue them a mask, or cite them. Compared to a traffic stop, which takes 6-7 minutes to complete, Portillo thought a COVID 19 stop would require about the same time. But, it could take longer depending on what needs to be done.

Question: Do you think the frequency of these COVID 19 calls is having an effect on how you police the town? Portillo answered, "We still have to prioritize high-priority calls. What we're doing is heavily enforcing particularly the mask ordinance, 'cause we're seeing cases rise in Grant County and we are trying to gain compliance with the public. We did education at first, but now we are citing people. We want to bring COVID cases down. That's our job. When the law passed we're here to enforce it. But, at the same time, for example, if a COVID 19 call comes in for an individual not wearing a mask, but then we have an emergency call for service – a domestic, or shots fired, or a violent crime – we're going to prioritize to take care of that call before. And that's not going to change.

"Is COVID 19 a public health order violation type priority? Absolutely. But, public safety, when it comes to violent crime and the safety of the community – that comes first. So, the officers will pend a mask ordinance violation and respond to a call for service – a burglary, property crime, violent crime, whatever the case may be – that's how we operate. And, will continue to operate like that. We have to."

Asked about communication between town leaders and the department, Portillo responded, "The information I get, I give to the town manager and the town manager communicates with the mayor and council. There's times when I communicate with the mayor and council. There's always communication going on constantly, not just at the council meeting.

Portillo concluded by emphasizing, "I want to add that we are heavily enforcing the mask ordinance and encourage the public to come into compliance and abide by the public health order and the new town mask ordinance. You can also find the town ordinance in the town's website. If you want to report a public health order violation call Central Dispatch."