Cesar James Ramos discusses campaign for Otero County Sheriff

Susan Morée: 
Tell us about how your background has prepared you to serve in this office. 
 
Cesar James Ramos: 
Okay, well, I have 34 years of law enforcement experience, mostly with the federal government. I started out my first law enforcement experience in the United States Navy for three years, and then when I separated from the US Navy, I went into the Department of Defense for seven years and from the Department of Defense, I moved on to the United States Border Patrol where I completed 24 years and I retired. And at each level, I had supervisory positions and when I retired, I decided to move on and seek the office of Sheriff for Otero County. 
 
Susan Morée: 
Next question, why are you running for this office? 
 
Cesar James Ramos: 
Okay, so basically, I'm running for this office because after I retired, I went to work with the county Republican Party, of which many of the members got to know me, my background. And they said, well, the sheriff's office is going to come open here pretty soon. Why don't you run for that office and give the people of Otero County the service that that they need, you know, because under the current administration, it's very negligible and, unfortunately, a lot of the people in the county aren't happy with his service and so that's why I'm seeking the office, is to provide better service for the people of Otero County. 
 
Susan Morée: 
Next question. What are the top issues in your district for this office? 
 
Cesar James Ramos: 
Okay, well, as I mentioned for the other question. There's a lot of service that isn't being provided to the people of Otero County, such as, you know, when they call for service. There's certain areas of the county where the sheriff isn't responding between certain hours exactly from 11 p.m. to six in the morning, which I believe is a disgrace. And there's also a lack of cooperation between the Mescalero Tribe and the Sheriff's Office. Those are two examples, and I want to bridge that gap to provide better service for the people of Otero County. 
 
Susan Morée: 
And next question, how would you successfully address those issues? 
 
Cesar James Ramos: 
Okay, well, basically, I'm going to use my experience in working with different agencies and bring these agencies together. And what I want to do is clean up a lot of the narcotics that's going on in Otero County most people know that Otero County is a designated HIDTA area, a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and I want to bring, you know, different agencies together such as the FBI DEA Bureau of Indian Affairs and try to clean up this problem and bring a brighter, better future for the children of Otero County. 
 
Susan Morée: 
Last question. What else do you think is important for voters to know about your campaign? 
 
Cesar James Ramos: 
Okay, well, two programs that I want to implement is the Law Enforcement Explorer program and the Police Athletic League program. I love working with children, and what I want to do is, our bright youth can go into the Law Enforcement Explorer program being mentored by deputies and local officers to keep them, you know, on the straight and narrow. And the Police Athletic League is for our at-risk youth and we can have volunteer officers and deputies helping them, mentoring them through sports to keep them away from the criminal element and all of this narcotics movement that's going on.