Abigail Salas:
Can you tell us about how your background has prepared you to serve as sheriff?
Rafael Reyes:
So I would say that my experience in federal law enforcement translates directly to leading the sheriff's office because I pretty much did it all the core functions of a sheriff just at a larger scale and of course under higher stakes, right, federal service as agent in charge and later as a deputy chief overseeing over 3,000 personnel across Arizona. I manage budgets, staffing, training, critical incidents, community safety every day. And so that's executive law enforcement leadership and essentially what a sheriff does. I've led complex criminal investigations. I served as the director of the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats, so was responsible for coordinating with local departments, state agencies, other federal partners. I've written policies to improve accountability, officer safety, and I led efforts to modernize my department. And then I spent several years in community meetings as part of my responsibilities as an assistant chief over public affairs and international affairs. I've been in Mexico under, in armored car convoys, negotiating security cooperation with our Mexican federal partners. I bring proven leadership, real operational experience, and then a commitment to transparency. I'm the only one that's really speaking to some of the very, very radical ideas in 21st century policing. And that's bringing the public, bringing our residents, giving them a voice in the direction of the department.
Abigail Salas:
And why are you running for sheriff?
Rafael Reyes:
Well, so I would say that I have an interest in advancing the sheriff's department. I know that there is a lot, a lot of space for growth. And when I talk about growth, I'm talking about 21st century policing. And 21st century policing, people confuse that with you know, some mantra about, you know, while we're advancing law enforcement, the reality is 21st century policing is something that came about several years ago under President Obama. And he called together executives, law enforcement executives from across the country, and they pulled all the best practices in policing, in progressive policing, and put it together in a report to the president. And 21st century policing is what this county needs. It's increasing transparency and accountability. And I talk about that in several platforms and several of the events that I've attended. This is increasing accountability in the department to citizens advisory councils, to use of force review boards that have trained civilians. alongside law enforcement officers reviewing use of force. It's improving our disclosures to the community through a cadence of releases in metrics. We're talking about arrest and use of force incidents and officer misconduct and, you know, all those things that build legitimacy, build trust and accountability. And I see that lacking right now in the current administration. We heard it through, at least from what I read, in these hits and misses tours that she did. The community really, really wants that. And I'll tell you that I have the training and the experience to bring it about. And that's what I really want to see a movement in both the transparency and then another thing that that no one else talks about, right, is moving the needle on de-escalation, right? Now, de-escalation right now is, de-escalation for the most part is stalled. Everyone talked about de-escalation, about language and various things, but through de-escalation, through de-escalation is prioritizing the preservation of life. That of the deputy and that of the offender. And so in instances where the only risk is to the offender, there's no victims to worry about. Our deputies are going to fall back, secure the scene, and call in less lethal options. We're not going to force a lethal encounter. No one else, no other person, no other candidate is talking about this. Really, really, truly moving the needle on de-escalation. And so, I think there's opportunity. I think we can move this department well into the 21st century, new ways of policing, and I have the training, the experience to do it. And that's why I'm running.
Abigail Salas:
What are the top issues in the county, and how would you successfully address those issues?
Rafael Reyes:
So, we're talking about mental health, which leads to drug addiction. That's one of the biggest issues that we're experiencing in the county. And what I say to a lot of the constituents that I talk to is that we've admired the problem for a very long time. We've got to recognize that our experiment with outpatient care for mental health has failed. We need a whole community approach. That means we need it. You know, go to legislation, increase access to mental health facilities. Increase access to funding for critical or crisis intervention teams. We need to have legislation that allows for individuals that continue to be a harm to themselves and to others to be involuntarily committed for treatment, both in the mental health and addiction. And as the sheriff, as the lead law enforcement official in the county, I'd have to take lead in pressing our legislators to invest in these things. Training has to accompany a lot of that with respect to law enforcement. Our deputies need to be trained on how to identify individuals that are going through a mental health crisis beyond I'm talking about individuals that need mental help. And then there's instances where individuals go through a mental health crisis, right? Everything can drive a mental health crisis, divorce, and loss of a loved one. So, training our officers, our deputies to recognize those things and making sure that we have policies in place that preserve life because You see that sometimes these things escalate, these encounters escalate to a deadly force. And so, I want to make sure that they are prepared both in training, reinforced through scenario-based training, their policy, to ensure that we don't force a lethal encounter when we don't have to. Those individuals that are going through whatever crisis or someone's loved one, someone's son, husband, brother, and want to make sure that they're given the help they need, rather than have a law enforcement. response that leads to something more tragic.
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?
Rafael Reyes:
I wrote a thesis for my master's degree that I earned, 2011-2012 time frame, that spoke to the integration of drones in law enforcement. This is over 10, 11, 12 years ago. Now we're seeing the advent of that. I can tell you that. Drone technology is here. Drone technology needs to be expanded. It's used to great effect by the Las Cruces Police Department. In the counties, it can absolutely be done. It takes some investment, but there is so much more that's gone beyond drones, right? So remote monitoring from a control center, placing out in the communities in our rural areas, solar powered cameras so we can monitor in real time crime that's occurring. Integration of license plate readers to help us both to gather intelligence, to target criminal networks, right, ‘cause networks operate freely in these ungoverned spaces, and so these LPRs would give us some ability to identify and target criminal networks. And then when it comes to deployment of new technology, especially when it comes to the preservation of life, looking and exploring distance control options, so we've used the taser for generations now. And although it did do a lot to save lives that otherwise would have been taken as a result of use of force, we have grown beyond that. I recently came back from a law enforcement expo, and I saw the various types of technologies that are out there, things such as bolo wrap that launched bands that wrap around an individual and prevents him from using his hands or his arms. Other types of distance control technologies. There's technology out there that heats the surface of your skin and prevents you from leaving a certain spot so that individuals can, or deputies can come around and take custody of individuals. So, exploring those types of technologies and employing them to, again, preserve life, and reduce the number of instances where both a deputy has to risk his life, or someone has, the loss of my life has to be taken.
Abigail Salas:
And the training budget for DASO is about $100,000 a year. Would you expand or contract it, and why?
Rafael Reyes:
It's absolutely essential to building trust in our community. And what I mean by that is officers, deputies that are trained appropriately, respond appropriately, and create confidence in the community. And when there's confidence in the community, there's support for our law enforcement and morale goes up. So, everything is kind of related. We absolutely have to grow the budget for training. We have to integrate new ways of training. There's use, there's VITRA technology, which is, it's a device or basically a room that you enter that allows scenario-based training in through video and through virtual reality to help deputies identify instances where they shoot, where they shouldn't shoot or how to negotiate and talk individuals down, right, de-escalate. There's training with respect to, we talk about implicit bias, de-escalation. All these types of things that need to be brought to bear have to be and it has to be an investment. But the reality is, of course, it's a very small budget. And so, there's going to have to be an assessment, a true assessment of the expenditures of the department. And there may be some very, really hard decisions to be made about certain things that are costly and can be divested from and reinvested into a true and effective proven things, training, technology, other tools available to allow officers to be effective in the field.
Abigail Salas:
And what role in budget, preparation, presentation, and monitoring do you see yourself in at DASO?
Rafael Reyes:
So, I know that decisions in the sheriff's department cannot be made in a silo. They require cooperation, collaboration with the Board of County Commissioners. They are the elected body. They hold the purse strings, and it is through their support that we get within the department what we need. I absolutely, as a sheriff, have to take an active role both in the presentation and the justification in the petitioning for budget. And I have the experience to do so. Several years in my agency, I led congressional affairs. I spent several times, several days, months in Congress pushing our federal legislators for budgets, for priorities, for new legislation to move and improve our law enforcement to improve our condition to move my law enforcement agenda. I have the experience in crossing the aisle. I've worked with legislators from both parties at the federal level. Again, talking to them about challenges and priorities and pushing them on the budgets and legislation to create the conditions for mission success. So I have the experience, I have the knowledge, I know out across party lines, and I know that everything, everything has to be worked out with the Board of County Commissioners.
Abigail Salas:
What else do you think is important for voters to know about your campaign?
Rafael Reyes:
I can tell you that there is no one else on the campaign trail. No one that speaks to the and I'll call it the change. And for some, it's radical. For others, it's needed. For me, it's just advancement in policing. No one else is speaking to what I'm speaking to. True transparency, true accountability, true de-escalation, really, really taking the steps to reduce crime, taking the steps to reduce unnecessary death, taking the steps to truly give our community a voice in the direction of the department. No one else is talking about citizen advisory councils. No one else is talking about citizens on a use of force board. Folks are taken aback at, you know, the willingness of me and my campaign to take these steps, to commit to these things early. Everyone is concerned about big donors or endorsements. The reality is I'm a grassroots effort. The only person I'm committed to and the only person I need their endorsement from is the community. And I want to make sure that we establish an organization, a department that is accountable to the residents of Doña Ana County, and I'm the one that can bring that about.
