Curry sheriff talks crime, staffing

Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Michael Brockett is the Curry County sheriff.

Q: How is the crime business in the county these days? Seeing anything unusual, any trends?

A: We are currently experiencing an increase in crimes of opportunity. Thieves are actively searching out unlocked vehicles and businesses and are taking advantage of what they find. I urge county residents and businesses to make sure they are locking up their vehicles and buildings.

Please make sure that you are not storing vehicle or equipment keys inside the machine that they operate.

Additionally, telephone scammers are hard at work, trying to take advantage of our residents. Please keep in mind that the Curry County Sheriff's Office, nor any government agency, will ask for money by phone. The scammers can be very convincing, so if ever in doubt please call us before you make any exchange of money or gift cards to verify you are not being victimized.

Q: Does rural crime tend to increase during certain times of the year? Any tips for making a safer environment?

A: The types of crime occurring in the county change with the seasons.

Spring and summer months tend to give us an increase in property crimes as a consequence of kids being out of school and the weather being more hospitable.

Fall and winter months are typically a bit quieter except DWI related incidents around the holidays and motor vehicle crashes during icy weather conditions.

To address these issues we are hoping to add three new school resource deputies who can help keep our youth engaged in the summer. We typically run several DWI saturation patrols each year to help curb DWI incidents.

Deputy Robert Baca, recently named Deputy Sheriff of the Year, was recognized by the Curry County DWI Task Force for having the most DWI arrests in the region in 2023.

Q: Talk about staffing. Are you in good shape? Critical condition?

A: We could use some more good people. We have openings in both patrol and court deputy divisions.

Our court deputy positions present a unique opportunity for those who are interested in being a part of law enforcement but for whatever reason cannot or do not want to attend the Law Enforcement Academy.

Court deputies can start at the age of 18 and work a regular schedule, Monday through Friday, with weekends and paid holidays off.

Our patrol deputies are working semi-permanent shifts with three-day weekends and plenty of overtime opportunities.

I am most excited about the addition of our school resource deputies who will work closely with our school districts.

Q: Do you track response time for calls for help that come from the county? If so, what are those numbers showing? Do you have deputies living throughout the county to increase response time?

A: Our response times are tracked and reviewed regularly. Our response times vary depending on where our on-duty deputies are responding from, and the level of emergency that they are responding to.

We do have deputies living in rural areas of the county, but the Sheriff's Office cannot dictate where our employees live within the county.

Q: Since your appointment as sheriff, how have your job duties changed since you were undersheriff?

A: I have had the privilege of working as an undersheriff for two sheriffs, Wesley Waller and Mike Reeves. I feel like they did a wonderful job preparing me for this position.

My phone rings a little bit more, but the job of leading our agency and protecting the rights of our residents has not changed for me.

Q: What changes in the department have taken place since last year's untimely death of Sheriff Reeves?

A: In addition to the school resource deputies I mentioned earlier, we are also in the process of modernizing our information technology for our deputies by integrating a new computer system for the patrol vehicles.

When complete, Curry County deputies will be able to complete reports and submit official documents electronically from their vehicles. This will keep our deputies out on patrol for longer periods without returning to our office for paperwork.

Q: Do you plan to run for sheriff when elections are held later this year?

A: Having served the residents of Curry County as a deputy for over 22 years, I am excited to run for sheriff in the next election.

• Compiled by Madison Willis, the Staff of the News.