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The 1960s On August 16, 1960, Officer
Robert E. Lee received a call from the sheriff’s office
reporting some people trying to flag down passing motorists on US 70.
It was undetermined at the time if this was just a motorist
assist or an accident. Just
a little after 2:00 a.m., Officer Lee was traveling eastbound at an
undetermined high rate of speed. Unbeknownst
to him, a 19-year-old Texas driver was sitting in a 1953 Mercury a few
miles up the road, waiting to make a U-turn. The
driver saw three cars approaching, and after waiting for the first two,
believed he had enough time to complete the U-turn. As he pulled
into the path of the patrol unit, Officer Lee applied his brakes and
skidded 273 feet, veering from the left lane to the right lane.
In doing this, his patrol car began to skid sideways. The unit’s left rear fender struck
the right front fender of the Mercury, causing the unit to spin off the
road and travel 78 feet airborne as it flipped.
The unit then hit the ground on its top and rolled over again,
making two complete rolls before landing on its wheels. Officer
Lee was thrown out during the second roll and died of multiple injuries,
one of which was a fractured skull.
The Texas driver was charged with Failure to Yield and fined
$150.00. Officer Lee was
commissioned on October 7, 1955, and was stationed in Las Cruces.
On the night of September 19, 1960, Captain James Clark was attending a meeting at Cannon Air Force Base. At approximately 10:35 p.m., Captain Clark was driving northbound on a country road west of the base, approaching Highway 60-84, when he approached a railroad crossing. The only warning sign was a railroad cross sign on a single post located to the right side of the road. It is believed that Captain Clark failed to see the 60-MPH train crossing the road due to a house, barn, and tall sunflower plants in the area. As Captain Clark entered the crossing, his unit struck a car of the westbound train and was carried 142 feet along the tracks before coming to rest. Captain Clark was killed instantly. He was commissioned November 20, 1937, and was stationed in Portales, Tucumcari, Clayton, and finally in Clovis. On July 1, 1951, he was promoted to captain and remained in Clovis as district commander. With the rising problem of narcotic use and
distribution, the state police saw a need to form a Narcotics Section.
In late 1960, a patrolman was assigned as a state police
narcotics agent. He turned
in his marked unit and was given an unmarked black and white with a whip
antenna flapping from the rear fender.
The November 1960 recruit school was the first
school held at the Glorieta Baptist Assembly. Governor Mechem, during his second term as
governor, replaced Chief Winston with Captain Kenneth K. Miller.
Chief Winston assumed command over the Las Vegas District
effective March 20, 1961. Chief
Miller came on the department in 1937 as a patrolman-mechanic.
At the time of his appointment as a patrolman, he was the Harley
Davidson dealer in Albuquerque and had sold the motor patrol their first
motorcycles. In 1945,
Captain Miller was placed in charge of the state police radio system.
During his tenure as chief, the Intelligence Division and a
polygraph service was established.
A district office building was constructed at Gallup and land was
acquired for a district office in Albuquerque. The transition from white over black patrol cars to
all white patrol cars with the single rotating red light on top began in
1961. The Governor had
decided there were too many fleet accidents because motorists could not
see the units and he felt that an all white police car would be easier
to see. In 1962, the
recruit training was extended from four weeks to six weeks.
As the department grew, it found itself feeling the
weight of more and more public demands and requests for assistance.
One area of these demands was the recovery of drowning victims in
the many lakes and rivers around New Mexico.
In 1963, the department created the official underwater recovery
team, which used modern diving equipment and methods of operation. Sergeant
Jim Syling was put in charge of the team. The team originally consisted
of 14 divers. On September 10, 1962, Patrolman
Bennie Williams was transferred to Elida.
On July 9, 1963, at approximately 4:00 p.m., he was southbound on
US 70, about nine miles south of Portales. He
lost control of his patrol car causing his it to go into a skid across
the wet highway and overturn two times before coming to rest on its top.
His estimated speed was 60 MPH.
Two nearby state policemen were notified of the accident and
responded to the scene. They
found the patrolman’s breathing to be shallow and spasmodic, and there
was severe bleeding from the head. Officer
Williams died enroute to the hospital. Officer Williams was originally commissioned in the
state police on May 1, 1960. When
he applied for his position, he used a false date of birth, showing him
to be older by a few months than he actually was. The department discovered his true date of birth when it
acquired his birth certificate sometime later.
Chief Winston terminated his position as patrolman and reinstated
him as a civilian radio operator in Las Cruces until after his 23rd
birthday, when he was reappointed as an officer. In late 1963, the department created the Special
Investigations Division and assigned ten investigators to it.
Protests and riots began increasing around the country and
several underground organizations were being established to undermine
government agencies. The state
police sent agents of the Intelligence Division into college campuses
around the state to document information concerning upcoming criminal
events. In the early morning hours of January 31, 1965, Patrolman
Antonio Jaramillo was investigating a minor traffic accident at
the corner of Third Street and Corona Avenue in Santa Rosa, when a 19
year-old driver struck him. Officer
Jaramillo was severely injured and transported to Presbyterian Hospital
in Albuquerque where on February 2, 1965, he died of his injuries.
The driver was later arrested and charged with manslaughter and
was sentenced to the state penitentiary for one to five years.
Officer Jaramillo was commissioned on April 20, 1964, and was
stationed in Santa Rosa. On April 26, 1967, Governor David Cargo selected
Captain Joseph Black as Chief of the State Police, to replace Chief John
Bradford. Chief Black
joined the department in April 1939.
He had served as the department’s property and supply officer,
and was a deputy dhief under Chief Winston.
In the early hours of Saturday, September 30, 1967,
Patrolman Robert Romero was driving
south on US 64, toward Santa Fe, when his unit struck the rear axle of a
logging truck that was attempting to turn left into a saw mill.
He was killed instantly. Officer
Romero was commissioned by the state police on July 16, 1959.
He was stationed in Glorieta, Pecos, Cuba, and Albuquerque.
While he was stationed in Albuquerque, he was assigned to the
Narcotics Division and then transferred to Santa Fe.
Officer Romero’s next assignment was as a special investigator
to the Attorney General’s Office, where he was assigned at the time of
his death. The department’s budget began to grow as more
personnel were added and more equipment was purchased.
In 1968, the department’s budget exceeded $4,000,000.00.
The dive team had increased to 28 divers assigned to areas
adjacent to lakes and rivers around the state.
The department also implemented the NCIC system, utilizing one
model 37ASR, which was used in the communications office in Santa Fe. During this year, district offices were set up in
Alamogordo, Clovis, Socorro, and Farmington.
Money was appropriated for a new state police headquarters and
state police academy. The
new complex also included a new automotive maintenance shop, radio
communications building, and a driving track for the academy. In the following year, 1969, the department’s budget increased by $1,000,000.00. A public relations office was created with one officer assigned to this position. This office was discontinued before the year was out. In the latter part of March 1969, the Legal Division was established and one attorney was hired. Chief Black retired December 6, 1969, and Governor Cargo appointed Captain Martin E. Vigil as Chief. Chief Vigil was commissioned on the State Police in April 1947. Chief Vigil would serve the longest tenure as Chief, from 1969 through 1982.
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