By Andrea Solis, Anna Padilla
The incumbent Sheriff Manuel Gonzales is up for reelection. Lou Golson, a veteran of the United States Air Force and long time APD officer, is looking to come out of retirement and is offering to reshape The Bernalillo County Sheriff Department.
Lou Golson has been in law enforcement since 1977, and in 1979 went active duty for three years, having been stationed in Albuquerque he later joined The Albuquerque Police Department.
During a DWI traffic stop in 2016, Golson was shot four times.
For the next five months he struggled to walk and to top it off, he went into financial ruin. In November of 2016 the doctors said he was not going to be able to return to to his beat. He left APD unwillingly but voluntarily.
“It was brought to my attention that the Sheriff was up for reelection, I started paying more attention to what was going on at the Sheriff’s Department and I was not happy with the way things were going. That was something I could do. I could make a change for the better,” Golson said.
With the support of his family as well as 50 other people, he is working hard on campaigning.
The Democratic incumbent Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III has been in law enforcement since 1989, having served as a cadet, and then worked in the field services position, judicial operations, 10 years in the SWAT team, as well as upper management positions, and has been the sheriff since 2015.
The possible loss of public trust in the sheriff department has be up for debate.
Here is what Golson had to say:
https://soundcloud.com/anna-lisa-padilla/golson-quote-scandal-public-distrust/s-OF0ZR
“There’s scandal, there’s non-transparency if you will, (Sheriff Manuel) is refusing to equip his deputies with cameras, he doesn’t respond to the IPRA’s that have been requested,” Golson said.
Sheriff Gonzales says otherwise.
“I go out in the public literally every day and interact with the public. They reassure me that the trust with the Sheriff’s office is probably at the highest it’s ever been,” Gonzales said.
Public trust has been a prominent topic of discussion. In recent years police brutality has been prominent in the media. The people don’t feel that they trust the sheriff department.
“The problem with the sheriff’s office and the community as a whole is that they link together The Albuquerque Police department and The Sheriff Department into one big department; there’s a huge distrust with the lack of communication. There exists two sides, you either feel safe when you see law enforcement or you feel threatened and want to walk the other way,” Jacob Silva said, a University of New Mexico student and a member of ASUNM.
In law enforcement, force has to be used at times. The levels of force differ for every situation. The distrust from the public is due to the way law enforcement uses force.
When the question about force was brought up Gonzales said they as a sheriff department follow what the constitution says and abide by the rules, though sometimes situations may put the deputies at risk and they must use force.
Golson sees the way force is being used, having worked for many years in APD.
“(Use of force) needs to be brought in line with what is nationally accepted, and legal. You’re gonna need to use force at some point, but the force has to be reasonable and has to conform with national standards and the law,” Golson said.
Golson’s experience gives him the knowledge of what it means to use force and what type of force to use in each situation.
“In the use of force realm, you have your pepper spray, you have your tazor, you have bean bags, and that’s just the less lethal. Lethal is all by itself. You have your hand guns, your riffles, your shotguns. And I want to make sure they’re trained to the point where they know what the use of force policies are, when they can and can’t use it,” Golson said.
If elected Golson wants to equip deputies with the proper tools that will make the department more transparent. Deputies will have the most advanced lapel and dash cameras available.
Sheriff Gonzales’ priority lies somewhere else.
“Taxpayer money needs to be put into hiring and training more deputies,” Sheriff Gonzales said.
Sheriff Gonzales is looking to be re-elected, though he doesn’t believe the sheriff department needs to be reformed, he is always looking into making it a better, and safer environment for his deputies and the public, he says.
The department is targeting different areas of the city where crime is high, starting in their own backyard, downtown Albuquerque, and moving into the university area.
Sheriff Gonzales has refused to do a live debate with Golson, especially if it was hosted by The Albuquerque Journal.
This is what he had to say on the matter:
https://soundcloud.com/anna-lisa-padilla/gonzales-quote-denied-tv-debate/s-6eS7W
“I believe he’s misinformed. Obviously, he’s never served a day at the Sheriff’s Office. Maybe if he is listening to people, those people are biased. I believe it’s a desperate attempt for him to try to come into office as a sheriff because he has no experience as an executive, and therefore not having a platform, I believe he has to run a negative campaign. That’s his choice, but I would always take the high road. I’m running on a platform of professionalism. I take the high road of having a platform that serves the citizen, and puts the citizen and community first before self,” Sheriff Gonzales said.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Anna Lisa Padilla 