Officer uses his faith to serve community
By John Earp
Obed Casteneda has been working as a police officer for the Jal Police Department for a little over two years. Originally from El Paso, he and his wife Selena, who is originally from Albuquerque, love living in the small town of Jal with their adorable two-year-old daughter Hayley. Prior to becoming a police officer, Casteneda worked in the prison at Hobbs as a correctional officer. Prior to that, he worked in the oil field.
He says he knew that working in the oil field and working as a prison guard wasn’t something he actually liked and had a real interest in as a long-term career. He says, “After the working in the oil field for over a year, COVID hit, so there was a moment in my life also where a man told me, like, hey, what are you doing out here? uh, you’re still young, you’re full of life. like, what’s the point of you wasting your life away here and your body and he’s like, oh, you ought to become a firefighter or a police officer. And that conversation actually stuck with me.”
Casteneda says that “Pretty much all my history of work prepared me for a police officer. He worked as an uncertified police officer “for about a year just to gain street knowledge and experience that way. And that actually helped me in the academy a lot.” He then enrolled in and graduated from the Southeastern New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy at New Mexico Junior College and has continued working for the City of Jal. He says he really enjoys the fact that being on the police force is “like a family,” and says, “There’s really good people out there. Obviously, I see the bad, but, I mean, you have to have bad to appreciate the good. So it just makes me appreciate the little things a lot more.”
He says that the hardest part of being a police officer is “seeing people at their worst because like, let’s say it’s one of you guys. And God forbid something terrible happens to you guys. I have to see you in that moment, and then still, like bring you back, you know, because there’s people that are hysterical, like seeing their loved one who passed away right in front of them. So you know, you have to like, remind them like, hey, everything’s going to be fine. It’s just a part of life, you know, but there’s some things that like, especially children, when you when you see children, like being abused or whatever, accidents, or there was the one incident where this lady was a couple months pregnant and so you just imagine like they’re going through their entire life, like, oh, let’s celebrate this, baby’s coming. And she got in a a pretty terrible accident and all three of them passed away instantly. So, it’s just those moments where you’re like, hanging that, maybe you added the whole life ahead of them and you know, some guy decided to drink and drive.”
He has a brother who is a state trooper for the State of Texas and is based in El Paso. He also has family in El Paso as well as a sister living in Arizona and another sister who lives in Georgia. He and his wife enjoy living in the small town of Jal, “because everything is a lot closer, so going out to places like I go to work and it’s two minutes away, so I don’t deal with traffic. and it’s real peaceful. but also because everyone knows each other, so, like, I’ll go to the grocery store and see my chief and you know, like it it’s good to see people, and then also, the rep that you build with people. So, like, let’s say we have a little incident and then afterwards we grow a relationship. and then next time I have difficulty with like a subject, that person is like friends with that subject. So they’re able to calm down, so it benefits, like our personal life and our work our personal and work life.”
Casteneda says that though he grew up with his family being very involved in their local church in El Paso, it was not until he started working as a police officer that he came to seek a closer walk with God and to really take his faith seriously as an individual. He says, “Once I went into corrections, I got more into the world because of like the environment that I was in. and it basically taught me that that world is cold blooded, and I felt an emptiness in my life, and then that’s when I was working here, so I started reaching out again and getting closer to God, and then I finally had my personal encounter and started growing my relationship with Christ. So now, when I go to calls, it’s basically the complete opposite, so let’s say it’s a person struggling with anger back then, I would fight anger with anger, you know? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect in in any way, shape or form. I’m still human inside. I still make mistakes, but it makes me pause for a second and think like, hey, how can I help this person with their life, everything that they’re going through and still do my job as a police officer, but put them on the right step towards Christ? And I’ve done it a few times where people break down on the side of the road and they tell me, like, because I’ll be typing up a citation and then I’ll ask him like, hey, have you been going to church? And then they just spill the beans and they told me about their lives. So I tell them like, hey, maybe this is your sign that you should start going back because I just felt it put in my heart to ask you, so that’s what I’m telling you. And, yeah, so I got to see both versions of what it’s like to live a life without Christ in this sort of field, and I mean, it benefits me because it’s my salvation, you know, but I also help people on their journey, and I see them at their worst, but I tell them like, hey, like, I know this is at your worst, but just remember. Christ could pick you back up.”
Officer Obed says that before he recommitted his life to Jesus Christ, “Back then, I was terrified of death because I didn’t know. I had an idea what was going to happen, but I didn’t know if I was like, fully saved, so at the time, I thought I was saved, which I wasn’t, but I just was going based off parents’ faith, but now, obviously, yes, I still think about not dying because I still have a family to take care of, but I know if it happens, like how it says, I don’t lose anything I gain everything, so now with that it gives me a sense of peace going out on calls. If something were to happen, God forbid, but, Selena knows that she can be taken care of because she believes and she has full trust in God.”