Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Santa Fe police Chief Padilla announces plans to retire | Local News

Chief Andrew Padilla announced Monday that he is retiring after three and a half fast-paced and occasionally controversial years as chief of the Santa Fe Police Department.

Padilla, who has been a police officer in Santa Fe for 21 years, will retire on December 3rd, about a month after the city elections, in which a mayor is elected by voters, is over.

The upcoming election has nothing to do with his decision.

“I thought it was time to retire,” said Padilla in an interview on Monday. “It was a great career in the police force. I brought the police force the stability that I have promised over the past 3½ years.”

According to a city press release, Padilla’s tenure as boss is the longest in 18 years. He has headed the department since autumn 2017 and was acting head after the resignation of his predecessor Patrick Gallagher. He was permanently appointed to the position by Mayor Alan Webber’s administration in June 2018.

A native of Española, Padilla began his career as a patrolman with the Santa Fe Police Department in 2000 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has held several positions within the department, including commander of the SWAT team and special operations, and deputy chief of administration. He also spent time on patrols, as a field training officer, as an armorer, and on criminal investigations.

Padilla led programs with a focus on community engagement, such as the Government Exploration Program, which taught public safety students and inspired youth to pursue careers in public safety, according to a city press release. He also worked with the nonprofit Communities In Schools to raise awareness about speeding and with YouthWorks to prevent gang violence.

During his tenure, Padilla was credited with conducting departmental crisis intervention training and counseling services for police personnel, as well as wage increases for civil servants and $ 15,000 in signing bonuses for side officers.

City officials said fixing staffing bottlenecks in the department is critical, in part because departments in Albuquerque and elsewhere are poaching officials to deal with their own staffing problems.

As he moved away from leading the Santa Fe police force, Padilla said he was looking forward to the future.

“I’ve done my part here and it’s time to spend some time with my friends and family,” said Padilla.

His time was not undisputed, perhaps exacerbated by a nationwide law enforcement debate following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in the summer of 2020.

In Santa Fe, the division’s evidence room underwent rigorous scrutiny in 2020 after the disappearance of physical evidence gathered during a 2018 sexual assault investigation of a 4-year-old girl. In an email at the time, Padilla wrote that as a department head he was responsible and accountable to the community, and called the practices in the evidence room so far “completely unacceptable”.

Padilla also came under scathing criticism when protesters demolished the soldiers’ memorial in the plaza on Indigenous People’s Day last year. The chief defended a commandant’s decision to withdraw officers during the protest, claiming that the situation could have escalated into violence if they had stayed on the scene.

“It was the preservation of life over property. I stand by the decision of this commander,” he said at the time. “It was the right decision. If someone had been life-threatening near the obelisk, the officials would have got involved again. The monument, yes, it is historical, but it is an object.”

In a press release, Santa Fe city manager Jarel LaPan Hill and Kyra Ochoa, community health and safety director, praised Padilla’s work, including providing “innovative approaches” to the many problems the police force is facing.

Webber, who is running for re-election against councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler and former congressional candidate Alexis Martinez Johnson, said the city is grateful for Padilla’s work.

“I appreciate him very much and thank him for his service,” said Webber. “He brought stability to the department and a sense of commitment to public relations and engagement.”

When asked if there were any successors, Webber said the election would take time.

“I don’t think we’re in a hurry to name a successor,” said Webber. “There should be a very orderly and thorough process for recruiting for internal candidates or people outside of the current department. He gave us enough time so that we don’t have to hurry. “

Padilla said he was most proud of his work encouraging officials to bond more closely with the community, although many Santa Fe officials live outside of town.

“When I became the police chief, I encouraged the officers to go out and interact with their community, go door to door, talk to neighbors, talk to the business owners who lived in the district they patrol,” said he.

Padilla said he hopes his successor will work with Santa Fe’s unique, multicultural heritage.

“Embrace the change and really listen to the community. Change is a slow process, it doesn’t happen overnight, ”he replied to a question about advice he had for his successor.

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