Rhoads Wants to Expand LCSO Footprint to Smaller Communities

By John Earp

As a service to the voting public, The Jal Record has interviewed the current candidates for Lea County Sheriff. Below is our interview of Mark Rhoads.

The Jal Record: What made you want to run for sheriff?

Mark Rhoads: So, I had a career in law enforcement, and I did my 21 years for Hobbs PD and then I retired because my son was five years old, and I needed to spend more time with him, help raising him. So I thought was done, got out, made a career in a private industry, and made it all the way to the top.

TJR: That was with Urenco?

Rhoads: Right. And then the opportunity came up, and a lot of prayer went into the opportunity, because I’ve been married to my wife for 18 years and never, uh, she hadn’t been with me during law enforcement. So, a different career. A lot different lifestyle. Because now you’re on call. Even though you’re not doing the work as far as the, you know, deputies and the actual, but you got to make sure they have what they need. You have to make sure the media has what it needs. You have to make sure the whole thing runs like it’s supposed to, because your name is at the top. So after a lot of prayer went into it, a lot of decision making, we decided to get back into law enforcement. I truly love law enforcement. It was the proudest I’ve ever been in my life was my career, private industry is fine, but you’re just making money for other people, right? Where if you can make a difference, and I think that, as my experience in law enforcement, and my experience in a private industry, now I have something that’s different than the other candidates. Because the other candidates, I know, are just career law enforcement. So I think I can bring that private industry knowledge to the sheriff’s office.

Rhoads: I’m really proud of the foundation that Sheriff Helton has built. I think he’s done an amazing job bringing in programs that I never saw in the past. I mean, in the past, when I was at Hobbs PD, the sheriff’s office didn’t have a traffic unit. They barely could field any kind of SWAT thing. The posse was not even around. No explorers. None of the community outreach. And, you know, when I talked to Sheriff Helton, he brags about coming down to Jal and cooking, you know, 200 hamburgers, and all the community outreach, I just was so impressed with that, and I want to keep that going. He’s looking at building a training center, the county is, and I think that would be an awesome opportunity to include the other agencies, the smaller agencies, so that they can come up, you have name brand instructors come, and they teach, and the other agencies, the smaller agencies that couldn’t afford it by themselves, can all come and join in this training center. So I think there’s a huge benefit in that. The Lea County training center would be all of Lea County. You know, all of the agencies, and just for the sheriff’s office, to have their own range. I mean, right now, they have to borrow a range, or go to Hobbs, or Lovington, or something, and they don’t have their own range, and for being the largest agency. I mean, you look at what does it take to be a successful agency? And wht is your retention rate? And look at the sheriff’s office, retention, they are full, and he has applications set on his desk. So, you know, for people to criticize an agency that’s full, if it’s so bad, why does everybody want to stay? So again, he’s running a successful program and with the right leadership, I believe that it can keep going and it can even be better. So, the difference is, I’ll have an experienced undersheriff that has worked for me in the past, and that dynamic is not new. He worked for me the entire time I was at the PD, whether it be a sergeant, or one of my snipers on the SWAT team. And he and I work well together. So that’s not a new dynamic when it comes to law enforcement.

TJR: What would you consider your top 2 or 3 priorities should you be elected?

Rhoads: So, one thing I’m committed to, and I’ve always said it from day one, is a larger footprint in the smaller communities. That means a larger footprint in Eunice, Jal, Monument, Tatum. I mean, Tatum’s done well. Chief Connor has built his force up. Now he’s even doing a night shift. And that’s pretty awesome. I think Jal has a really good police chief and officers. I mean, I see him out working and, you know, you’ve got a really good police force. So just think if we could get Hobbs healed up and Lovington healed up and I’m committed to working with Chief Franklin. He’s a brand new chief in Hobbs, and heal that agency so that they can be fully staffed. Right? And that way it would allow the deputies to be out in the county, and do more equal law enforcement. So that’s one of my top priorities.

Rhoads: I’ve got some ideas for technology. That’s one thing at Urenco, they’re really proud of, is technology. I’ve got ideas for technology that will help the deputies. You know, we have over 4000 square miles in the county. So 85 deputies, it’s still a lot of miles, right? And we have everything from oilfield theft to rampant drug issues. So, filling the drug task force, making sure it’s going as good as it can. I mean, they make amazing cases as it is. Just with the limited manpower. So just think what they could do if they were fully staffed and everything could be run like it should be. So, again, making a bigger footprint in the smaller communities and also bringing technology to the department, some technology that maybe they’re not used to. That’s my first two things I’m working on. Of course, technology is going to cost a little bit, but if it can, it can save you from having to hire, hire more. Of course, I’m not opposed to that either. I mean, it’s a big county and just think if you could run shifts both north and south, instead of just responding to calls, because let’s face it, the calls are in Hobbs and Lovington. And then that leaves everybody else out, and that’s not fair.

TJR: When you say heal Hobbs and Lovington, could you kind of expound a little bit on what you feel like are some problems?

Rhoads: So I feel like Hobbs staffing, they’ve been short staffed for a long time. I’m not going to get into the reasons. Where if you look at Lea County Sheriff’s Office, they’re full. And they very rarely have openings. I’m pretty sure last time I talked to Jal’s chief, they were full, right? So that’s a mark of a good program. right? But that still, what does that do for the ranchers, the oilfield theft? Yeah, and all these people that are having to hire private security. So look at the call load. And of course, you’re going to have to go, you know, as a private citizen, all I can do is speculate because I don’t have the statistics right here in front of me because I’m still a private citizen. So I think just from what I’ve heard, and talking to deputies, talking to officers, talking to people inside all these departments, and I’ve been from one end to this county since we’ve been doing this since last May. My first official event was Memorial Day at Cooper Cemetery. And what a peaceful place, right?

TJR: Are there any other things that you think could be improved in the sheriff’s office?

Rhoads: I mean, I would work supervision on the streets. And Monday morning, the chief comes in, he Monday morning quarterbacks you. And I won’t have that. I won’t do that. I will make sure that I’m informed on all sides of this situation before any kind of decisions are made.

TJR: What is your least favorite thing about law enforcement?

Rhoads: I’ll tell you right now, law enforcement takes a toll on everybody that’s involved. And we’re talking dispatchers, it starts with them, and it works its way all the way up through the family members of the deputies and the officers. I mean, the toll it takes in dealing with crime and dealing with just the people you deal with. But there are good people out there. There’s a lot of good people out there. So I think that’s why the community programs are so important. I worked my way up. I started as a patrol officer. I went step by step, field training officer, sergeant, lieutenant, then captain of criminal investigations. I was 18 years SWAT, so I saw the worst that Hobbs had for 18 years. And I, you know, I did everything on a SWAT team, whether it be hostage situations, barricades, prison riots, you name it. I did it. And I never asked my men to do anything I wasn’t willing to do. I mean, you can check my record. I have a whole scrapbook of newspaper articles and I can show you. So this isn’t something new to me that I don’t know what I’m getting into. I didn’t get given anything as far as I worked for every position I had. I think it’s an honor to serve, and I think that when people look back after they retire, their proudest moments, they are what they’re most proud of, are probably the worst times in their life when they were in law enforcement. I mean, it takes it out and you did it. It takes a special person to be able to do that career and especially retire. So taking care of those people is extremely important to me. I mean, that’s one thing that Urenco has taught me is, they absolutely take care of their employees. And they reward them and they reward them for positive behavior and they develop them. And so in law enforcement, you show up, you get paid, you do your job, you go home, and unless you’re a self-motivated type person, you’re not going to get anything extra. I mean, they’re not going to come out and just hand it out to you. You have to earn it. And so I think I can bring some of the good things I learned out in the public to law enforcement, and show them how some of the private sector is being held. Now, of course, you can’t do bonuses and, you know, 401k. This is still a government agency, right? But you can bring some reward programs to them that will reward them for positive behavior and their good work. I mean, you got lots of deputies out there doing some amazing work. And, you know, all that gets reported or all that people want to hear about is the bad stuff, ugly stuff. You don’t hear about these deputies that go out and raise money so that they can buy Christmas presents for these families.

TJR: What do see as the job of the sheriff, that you will pursue if elected?

Rhoads: So, the main job of the sheriff is the safety of the community. He is, to run his agency, the most efficient, understand that he is dealing with taxpayers’ dollars, understand that his deputies are driving around in vehicles that are paid for by the citizens, but the citizens don’t understand that these deputies have a hard job, and so do every police officer that works the streets, they have to enforce the law. Everybody deserves safety. They deserve security. They deserve that their stuff does not get stolen. And if you look at the needs of people, safety is right there at the top. So, how I’m going to do that is I’m going to establish the standards that I expect. I’m going to make sure that they’re equally applied. I’ve been a victim of the good old boys club, and I have no, no allegiance to anybody in the agency. I mean, I’ve been out long enough to where I don’t have friends that are still working the streets. So, you make sure it’s equally enforced, whether it be starting with me. I mean, if I establish standards, then I expect I should be the first one that follows all of them. And so, again, you have to set the example. And I’ve always set the example. As far as my work ethic goes, and after you enforce these equally across the department, then you have to verify. And that’s something I learned out in the private world, is how to verify those standards of being enforced, and how are they being upheld? Is your policies being followed? Is your rules being followed? Because they were set for a reason. And, you know, that goes for everything, is, are you keeping in your budget? Are you developing your people? You know, the things that I profess, I need to make sure happen. So, if God willing, I’m chosen, then I have four years to make sure that everything I have promised, I can get started and get going and finish. And then we’ll talk about the next four after that.

TJR: The basis for our United States of America is the Constitution. How do you see the sheriff’s department and its relationship to that?

Rhoads: Okay. So, good question. I will be a constitutional sheriff. I have taught concealed carry for the last 15 years, teaching people their Second Amendment rights. I believe in the right to own firearms. I believe in the right to protect yourselves. I will be, a constitutional sheriff. I will absolutely not enforce laws that are not constitutional. And I believe that is what has gained Sheriff Helton his popularity, is that he’s not enforced laws that were not constitutional. I am absolutely the same way. And that’s why you’ll see, I have little constitutions in English and Spanish so that I can hand out if anybody has any questions about that. So that’s a very good question that I don’t probably hit enough. I guess I take it for granted because, teaching concealed carry, we talk about it for 10 hours a day. We talk about their rights. We talk about use of force, we talk about when you can use the firearm in the state we live in. We talk about that because, let’s face it, we absolutely are privileged to live in Lea County because it’s not that way in other parts of the state.