Abigail Salas:
James, can you tell us about how your background has prepared you to serve as sheriff?
James Frietze:
Yes, thank you for the question. So, I've had 25 years of law enforcement with the New Mexico State Police. During my time in service, I served as a patrolman, as a detective. I was a member of the tactical team for nine years, crisis negotiation team for five. I rose through the ranks, beginning as sergeant and then going to assistant district commander and finally as a commander. I worked all over the state. I was stationed in Española. I was stationed in Las Cruces, Deming, and Alamogordo. During my time, I also assisted with the New Mexico State Police Academy as an instructor. I would instruct in firearms, officer survival, patrol operations as well in that capacity. And I also served as a commander for the Alamogordo District, as well as for the Las Cruces District. And I was in charge of all operations, daily operations, long-term planning, strategic planning, personnel to include commissioned personnel and civilian personnel. Worked a lot with HR out of the Santa Fe headquarters, as well as legal division when it came time to personnel issues. While I was in Las Cruces, I oversaw three stations, the Las Cruces station on Sonoma Ranch, the port of entry in Anthony for motor transportation, law enforcement, and then the Santa Teresa port of entry down on the border with Mexico. So, I have a well-rounded capacity as far as a leader. 13 years of my 25 years, I was a supervisor in the state police. And I retired honorably after 25 years on my terms and left in good standing.
Abigail Salas:
And why are you running for sheriff?
James Frietze:
So, within my 25 years of law enforcement service throughout the state, I worked with other sheriff's agencies, 33 counties, worked with a lot of the sheriff's departments. When I was a boot on the ground for my 13 years, worked a lot with the deputies and there was always complaints about the leadership or the lack of leadership, or that there was personal agendas within their agencies. And it always seemed to be that was a common denominator throughout the state. Having learned leadership skills in my agency that I was working for. And developing those skill sets. Understanding that DASO has never had the full potential administratively, I have skill sets as well as operational skill sets that we can bring to DASO to move DASO forward. Again, helping DASO to be what it needs to be. We're one of two Class A counties in the state, Doña Ana County and Bernalillo County, and there's no reason that we should not be one of the top agencies in the state, if not the top agency. And I have that ability to move that agency or DASO to that next level and continue moving forward to be one of the best agencies in the state.
Abigail Salas:
What are the top issues in the county and how would you successfully address those issues?
James Frietze:
So, a lot of the problems within the county, there's failure for cooperation. It seems that egos are huge in some of these matters. It's not about an ego. It's not about who can do better or who can do the best. It's about working with everybody and remain mission oriented. Upon being sheriff-elect in November after the general election. One of my goals is to meet with the county commissioners, specifically individually, so we're not violating any type of quorum or any type of open meetings act, and meet with them individually to find out what the needs are, the law enforcement needs of the community of their respective districts, and seeing how we can address those matters. I would also like to meet with county management. The manager and the assistant managers to find out our budgets, what we're looking at, where we need to transfer money and how we can go about getting additional funding. And then third, I'd like to go ahead and meet with the law enforcement in the area for cooperation, state police as well as the city police and then the other agencies within Doña Ana County and look and see what we can provide for each other in that capacity. Leadership is huge, and that's what's lacking in DASO because there's not fairness in promotional process. I've met with the union from Doña Ana County Sheriff's officers for deputies, and during our meetings, they voiced their concerns. So, I'm fully aware of some of those concerns, which are personnel matters in some instances. But I do have their endorsement, and I'm the only candidate that has their endorsement. So, working with the union is also a huge priority so that we can move the sheriff's department forward.
Abigail Salas:
Technology is rapidly advancing the footprint of law enforcement. What technology that exists now in DASO would you expand upon, and what new areas would you develop?
James Frietze:
I know there's use of drones at this point right now within DASO. And with that, I want to grow that. There's a lot of abilities to use drones. Obviously, you have to follow the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administrative rules and regulations, as well as case law when you're using drones. So, it's not difficult to navigate, but it definitely can be a force multiplier on critical incidences. And flight time is also a factor. So, we need to expand on better drones that have longer flight time. AI obviously is growing. Everybody's aware of it. Everybody, we need to be careful with that as well, because I do want to look at AI and how it can be utilized in law enforcement, but also with the understanding that we cannot use AI if it's going to be violating civil rights. That's a huge factor when it comes to risk management and how a leader and administrator has to view the use of technology. So, we're not violating civil rights of any, whether it's a suspect or whether it's just a common citizen. One of the things I want to do for sure is start looking with AI where it's compatible with other law enforcement agencies for shared information on immediate uploads. And I've talked with LCPD. They have an excellent program in that right now. I would like to explore that program with them to see how we could work together to get on the same sheet of music when it comes to that sharing of information.
Abigail Salas:
The training budget for DASO is about $100,000 a year. Would you expand or contract it and why?
James Frietze:
I would expand on that, especially when it comes to mental health training for the deputies, as I'm an instructor for mental health for first responders. And in that capacity of mental health, there's a lot of, I don't want to say lacking, but there's a lot of lack of understanding how a person reacts. There's those that do have true mental health concerns, but there's also those people that are just having a mental health crisis. You've had a hard day, you've had a rough day, and everything just seems to be piling up on you. And that has to be understood by the deputies that are serving the community and the department as a whole. There may not be a true mental health issue, but there's a mental health crisis and there's a difference between the two. And being able to identify that through training is a huge factor. And with mental health training, there's also training for firearms qualifications and also hopefully we can get more defensive tactics involved because the more proficient you are in defensive tactics, the better you are that you don't have to rely on weapon systems to control somebody if it comes down to that. And through body control and armbars or use of force as far as not use of force continuum, but strictly person on person. You can control them better. And there's not a huge need for use of force beyond a simple armbar to control somebody. So, I do want to expand on training. And that's also with legal updates as well to make sure everybody's on par with what current caseload or current case laws are.
Abigail Salas:
What role in budget preparation, presentation, and monitoring do you see yourself in at DASO?
James Frietze:
As the chief law enforcement officer for DASO, my role is to make sure that there's accountability, first of all, and that money is being spent correctly. I have civilian staff that is going to be assisting with that matter. as well as some of the commission personnel. For instance, if there's a commission, there's a sergeant who's running a roadblock, it's his or her duty to turn in the overtime forms through the proper chain so they can be documented and then forwarded up the chain of command. And I would like to have a second oversight as well. One set of eyes is good, having two sets of eyes is even better. So, with the role of that in the budget and then for presentations, I don't mind presenting some of the budget to the public so they can see where the money is being spent. That's okay as far as transparency. Does everybody care about it? No, because everybody's got certain things that they always want to see from the sheriff's department, but I'm sure there's those that are interested in numbers as far as the finance is concerned. Working with the commission and as well as with the county management team to make sure that they understand the purposes for our budget and that is the communication. That's one of the best things that I bring to the table is bringing communication forward to showing individuals how we're operating and why we're operating in a certain way and that includes budget.
Abigail Salas:
And what else do you think is important for voters to know about your campaign?
James Frietze:
For my campaign, I was born and raised here in Las Cruces. Family's been here since the 1850s, so I have a vested interest in this community and looking to improve the lifestyles and public safety in general. I was involved with the youth when I was in the state police. I was a volunteer. I was a Boy Scout leader, Cub Scout leader, Hunters Ed education volunteer for their program there for Hunters education. I'm currently a commissioner for the Department of Public Safety Advisory Board, where we meet with the chief of the state police, his staff, as well as the Department of Public Safety. I'm currently a private investigator where the contract where the company I work for contracts with State Risk Management Association, counties and Municipal League. In that capacity, we're working a lot with policies and during the insurance investigations when they're filed with the respective government agencies that we're doing investigations for. So, I have a well-rounded view of policies and procedures and administrative skill sets. Again, I was a 13-year supervisor for the state police and then I was also boot on the ground. I have a lot of critical incident skills and management of critical incidences from hazmat's to officer involved shootings as well and always understanding that we remained focused on our goal and what we are there to do and that is to provide a public safety service for the community and not let egos get in the way, as well as cooperating with other law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, and the local district attorney as well.
