Detention center understaffed, seeking officers

CLOVIS — An understaffed Curry County Detention Center is seeking to recruit a number of officers, a trend that jail officials said is common across the state and nationwide.

Acting Detention Administrator at the Curry County Detention Center, Joe Alaniz, said that as far as the jail is concerned, “we have 22 vacancies when it comes to officers.”

“We just hired two new ones recently and we have a sergeant vacancy, so including that it brings it up to 23.”

Administrator Mark Gallegos is currently away on military service, County Manager Lance Pyle told The News.

Alaniz pointed out that vacancy rates are calculated for a facility at its maximum capacity.

“Thank God our facility has been running at minimal population due to COVID,” Alaniz said. “That has helped a great deal.”

Alaniz said he believes the staffing shortage is not due to people not wanting to work at the facility itself, but precipitated during the pandemic as the virus disrupted many lives.

The issue is a multifaceted one, Alaniz said, and It could also be partially due to both fear of the virus, and fear of getting vaccinated.

“I don't know if fear had anything to do with it, but the reality is, it certainly doesn’t help,” Alaniz said. “I don’t see it as being a pay issue, and the environment, some people are suited for it and others are not. I don’t believe it has anything to do with our facility ... it is a great place to work.”

Alaniz said the detention center is constantly recruiting with all of its vendors, and is confident that it has the resources to eventually fill the empty slots.

The detention center already has hired a few people from out of state, Alaniz said, two from California and one from Nevada.

“I don’t think it is a New Mexico thing,” Alaniz said. “I think it’s a nationwide thing, and I think there are people out there that are interested in work, and there certainty is plenty of it. It’s just trying to pull some of these people in.”

Alaniz said other counties with vacancies in detention include Bernalillo (117), Dona Ana (47), Santa Fe (40), Luna (20) and Otero (14).

“A lot of us are in the same boat,” Alaniz added.