Chaparral residents take the law into their own hands

Twenty robberies in just two months, that happened in Chaparral this spring. Residents questioned the quality of their law enforcement. And now some residents are taking matters into their own hands.

The Otero County Sheriff’s Department has 44 deputies, who have to patrol an area as big as 6,600 miles. That includes Chaparral.

“I spoke to [Dona Ana Sheriff Todd Garrison] and they’re extremely shorthanded,” said Otero County Sheriff Benny House.

During the spree of robberies this spring, Dona Ana had 1-2 deputies patrolling it’s portion of Chaparral, home to about 10,000. On Oteros side, nine deputies try to protect the other 10,000. But for one resident, there’s no where near enough deputies to keep him and his family safe.

“I myself had to start a crime watch unit in our area for protection for our residents,” said a resident who is protecting his identity. He said he has 11 men who take turns and work shifts, watching each others back .

“It’s not legal,” he said. “We had meetings with Rick Little and a couple of big shots from Dona Ana, and it seemed that they weren’t really paying attention to what we were saying. Because we do need help out here”.

Patrolling chaparral is no easy task, the area they have to cover.

“That’s a challenge in itself,” House said. “Because you go two counties with one road, and then you have two states with one road separating. So he’s struggling.”

ABC-7 reached out to Dona Ana Sheriff Todd Garrison for comment but did not hear back. Soon though, the newly-elected Enrique Kiki Vigil who will take the reins and the problems of having less than 40 deputies to cover all of Dona Ana County.

“Residents are taking the law little by little into their own hands,” the resident said. “And it’s starting to become western. People are locking loading to protect their property and their family.”