{"id":33556,"date":"2023-06-06T21:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T03:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chief-red-flag-laws-could-have-stopped-farmington-shooter\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:11:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:11:02","slug":"chief-red-flag-laws-could-have-stopped-farmington-shooter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chief-red-flag-laws-could-have-stopped-farmington-shooter\/","title":{"rendered":"Chief: Red Flag laws could have stopped Farmington shooter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Law
Law enforcement personnel investigate the scene of a shooting on North Dustin Avenue in Farmington on May 15, 2023. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Farmington Police are tied for using the state\u2019s Red Flag laws more than any other community in the state, Chief Steve Hebbe told the city\u2019s Community Relations Commission during its June 5 meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going crazy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe used it three times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act of 2020, or Red Flag law, in this state allows police officers or any other person with knowledge of someone\u2019s mental state to petition the court to have an individual\u2019s guns removed should they be deemed a threat to themselves or others.<\/p>\n

The chief pointed out that while the law is not popular in this community, it \u201cwould have played a role in the latest event we had,\u201d Hebbe said, referring to the May 15 shooting on North Dustin Avenue that left four people dead and several others injured.<\/p>\n

The shooter, Beau Wilson, 18, is reported to have suffered from mental health issues, but had access to several guns and over 1,400 rounds of ammunition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, I support the ability of the police to take guns from people who might be in crisis,\u201d Hebbe said. \u201cEvery day we go out and make a decision to take away someone\u2019s freedom. We should be able to take away guns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebbe pointed out that in Wilson\u2019s case, had the police known about his access to guns and his mental health challenges they would have \u201chad a chance to intervene. It would have been a good thing for us. If we had taken the guns, no one would have known it happened,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

Hebbe shared this with the commission in hopes its members would help sponsor future forums on police and community topics.<\/p>\n

\"Farmington
Farmington Police Officer J. Gordon talks with resident Geremy Gerber as authorities investigate a shooting on North Dustin Avenue in Farmington on May 15. Gerber's truck was hit during the shooting. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWhen we have incidents like you\u2019ve seen \u2013 it\u2019s been a difficult couple of months for us. The time to be talking is before things happen,\u201d Hebbe said. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s been controversial, the majority of the community knows us and knows we are willing to talk about it. It comes down to trust and trust starts with groups like you and forums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the shooting involving Wilson and the police-involved shooting of Robert Dotson, 52, of Farmington, Commissioner Dale Leedy commented that Hebbe\u2019s leadership was evident. \u201cThe compassion and love you have for this community shines through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Deb Dumont asked Hebbe if there were certain needs to take to the community \u201csomething to be proactive about something you are seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mental health and marijuana were hot button issues<\/div>\n

Mental health and the legalization of recreational marijuana were two issues Hebbe said could be addressed.<\/p>\n

The commission sponsored forums in the past, prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. One of those forums addressed mental health. \u201cI definitely felt we were lacking in mental health in San Juan County, and I wanted to spotlight that\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

Hebbe said San Juan County has done a good job setting a up a mental health access center, and there is a person who helps people suffering from mental health crises to help prevent them from harming themselves or others.<\/p>\n

The Mental Wellness Resource Center was established in 2021 and offers free, in-person or over-the-phone assistance with locating treatment options for substance abuse or mental and behavioral health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could do something else on mental health,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

Another hot topic issue was the police role in immigration. \u201cWe brought in immigration attorneys and addressed what is the role of a local police department in the immigration debate. It was fairly well attended because it was controversial,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

\"Farmington
Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe spoke about the April 5 officer-involved shooting at a press conference at FPD headquarters April 14. (Debra Mayeux\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Hebbe said it is important to have public discussion about what to expect from the police force, and he wanted the commission to sponsor the forums as well as help come up with potential topics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, us having more open dialogue with the public is a good thing. We don\u2019t have a lot to hide. There will be controversies,\u201d Hebbe said. \u201cThe reason I want more forums and more dialogue is the police are neutral. We take a look at the facts. It leaves us in the middle at a difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding officers who are drug free<\/div>\n

Marijuana use could be considered a hot topic issue considering the state legalized recreational use, but the police department does not allow its officers to use the drug.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never done drugs. Today, almost all of our applicants have done marijuana. At this stage, they cannot do marijuana. It\u2019s a violation of federal law. We are operating on the zero tolerance,\u201d Hebbe said.<\/p>\n

The Farmington Police Department is having a difficult time finding people who want to be police officers, placing limitations on their freedom to smoke marijuana is making it more difficult, according to Hebbe.<\/p>\n

Assistant City Manager Shana Reeves added the city has to take into account how much marijuana can be in a lifeguard\u2019s system, \u201cor an animal shelter employee, who euthanizes an animal, and something goes wrong\u201d and you have to investigate, she said.<\/p>\n

It was easier when city employees had medical marijuana cards, because the city could make exceptions through the American with Disabilities Act, she said. Now, that marijuana is legal, \u201cit blew the top off this thing. Local businesses are struggling. It\u2019s very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebbe added this goes into the discussion of how to retain police officers once they are hired. \u201cThat would be a big broad one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like reengage with you all. I like the direction we started down,\u201d Hebbe said, adding he hopes to discuss future forum topics and set another forum for after the first of year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farmington police chief supports laws to remove guns from those in crisis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[168,799,896,28,51],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-crime","tag-farmington","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-police"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82258,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33556\/revisions\/82258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33556"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}