(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . El Paso County sheriff candidates in primary runoff tout experience, leadership styles [1] ['Elida S. Perez', 'More Elida S. Perez', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-05-16 The Democratic candidates for sheriff – Oscar Ugarte and Robert “Bobby” Flores – point to their experience and leadership styles as to why they should be elected as the next top law enforcement officer in El Paso County. Ugarte, 40, has about 21 years of law enforcement experience, including two years as a police officer and seven as a constable. He says he views the job as serving as an administrator. On the campaign trail, he calls himself a “true” Democrat, a dig at his opponent, who was seen wearing an anti-Biden T-shirt at a concert and whose voting record is scarce. “I’m trying to be that voice to make the decisions, to give them (officers) the proper training, the proper resources, so my staff can properly serve the community,” Ugarte said. Flores, 53, spent 33 years with the Sheriff’s Office, most recently as assistant chief. He says he’ll be a “boots on the ground” leader, pointing to his various roles within the department over the years. He rejects Ugarte’s claims that he’s not a “true” Democrat, saying he regrets not being a more active voter but always voted Democrat and adheres to Democratic values, especially when it comes to labor rights. “I’ve started from the bottom and worked my way – all the way up – to assistant chief,” Flores said. The two will face off during the May 28 Democratic primary runoff election after neither secured the majority of the votes to win the party nomination in March. In the five-way March primary race, Ugarte took 43% of the votes, while Flores received 24% of the votes. Early voting runs from Monday, May 20, to Friday, May 24. The winner will move on to the November general election to face Minerva Torres Shelton, who was unopposed in the Republican primary. The county sheriff oversees a department with a $122 million budget and about 580 detention officers, 270 deputies and 110 civilian staff. Aside from enforcing the law within El Paso County, the Sheriff’s Department oversees the county jail administration. Learn more: Sheriff’s candidates respond to questions about SB4, mental health and more Oscar Ugarte, who is in the Democratic primary runoff for the El Paso County sheriff’s seat, walks through a West El Paso neighborhood to speak with potential voters, May 16, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Ugarte: ‘I’m trying to be the administrator’ Ugarte is the El Paso County constable for Precinct 1. He served the city of Socorro Police Department for two years and became a court bailiff for the El Paso County Council of Judges in 2007 before being elected as constable in 2016. Ugarte did not have any disciplinary records on his personnel files from his time with the Socorro police or as a court bailiff, but constables don’t have an internal affairs unit or similar internal investigation function used by other, larger law enforcement agencies. Ugarte said the most important thing is to be a good administrator as sheriff. “I’m not trying to be a crime scene detective, I’m not trying to be a jailer, I’m trying to be the administrator,” Ugarte said. “I’ve worked for the state, I have experience in a state law enforcement agency (with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional division). I have had experience in a city law enforcement agency. I have experience in a county law enforcement agency, and also as an elected official and administrator – which is what the sheriff is going to be.” Bobby Flores, who is in the Democratic primary runoff for the El Paso County sheriff’s seat, speaks with potential voters at the Grandview Senior Center, May 15, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Flores: ‘It comes down to being a boots on the ground leader’ Flores retired from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office as assistant chief in 2023 to run for office. He had served as a lieutenant, sergeant and a division manager for the jail annex, among other roles in the department. Disciplinary records show Flores had nine internal affairs complaints dating back to the 1990s with the Sheriff’s Office, with four of them resulting in disciplinary action. Flores said his promotions included being moved up to a first-line supervisor, a lieutenant, a sergeant, a division manager for the jail annex and assistant chief. “When you start looking at additional leadership, I supervised over 300 officers in my division that I was responsible for and there’s leadership qualities that go with that,” Flores said. “It goes well beyond just do as I say, not as I do, or just do this and don’t bother me. It comes down to being a boots on the ground leader and that’s what I’ve always been.” Voter Guide El Paso Election 2024: Everything you need to know for May 28 primary runoff On May 28, El Paso voters will cast ballots in the 2024 primary runoff election. Here are key dates to remember, who’s on the ballot, candidate information and related stories. Flores outraised his competitors ahead of the March primary with about $106,000 while Ugarte raised about $41,000. Flores is being backed by former Congressman Silvestre Reyes and has been endorsed by m El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and the El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association. Ugarte is backed by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, and several current and former El Paso elected leaders, including Mayor Oscar Leeser. The next round of campaign finance reports are due Monday – eight days before the runoff. Among the issues facing the next sheriff are maintaining jail standards following recent non-compliance findings by the state, dealing with state immigration laws and state migrant arrests that are filling up the jails, and responding to increased threats in schools. Downtown jail staffing, standards Ugarte and Flores both said staffing at the Downtown jail needs to be addressed, which will help improve jail standards. “A jail is like a city, and if you’re going to run that operation with just bare minimum staffing … you can’t adjust to the demands of the facility,” Flores said. “There’s just so many variables there that you have to be able to adapt to and none of that was taken into consideration when the staffing was slashed.” Flores served as the jail commander from 2014 to 2015 and as the jail’s assistant chief from 2022 to 2023, and saw a decline in detention officer staffing. He said he had 333 detention officers in 2014 and only 276 when he returned in 2022, but did not know why those positions were reduced. He said he advocated for more staff when he took over as assistant jail chief. “I had several arguments with my deputy chief at the time,” Flores said, adding the response was that he had all the staff he needed to get the job done. He said if elected sheriff, he would work with the El Paso County Commissioners Court, which makes budgetary and policy decisions for county departments, to ask for more positions and funding to support them. The El Paso County Detention Facility, 601 E. Overland Ave. Downtown (Cindy Ramirez / El Paso Matters) The Downtown jail was found to be non-compliant by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in the last two years. In January, the commission found jailers failed to make face-to-face observations during wellness checks, following a gang-related murder of an inmate in November. The commission found detention officers failed to provide care when an inmate displayed signs of medical distress the year before after an inmate died of an esophageal rupture caused, in part, by methamphetamine and fentanyl, according to a KTEP investigation. The El Paso County Downtown Jail is no longer listed as a non-compliant on the state agency website. “There’s a very good possibility that our gang intel people could have picked that information up,” Flores said, adding that a gang intelligence officer position had been cut. Ugarte said he needs to review policies, training and procedures to find a way to improve them. “The murder that happened in the county jail, that’s unacceptable,” Ugarte said. “Obviously they committed an offense and are in there waiting for trial, but it’s the county’s responsibility to keep inmates safe.” Ugarte said to address staffing at the jail, the Sheriff’s Office needs to expand work with area high school law enforcement programs. He said that is what drew him into the career when he was young. “They said whoever is 18 can actually apply to be a corrections officer for the state and that’s how my law enforcement career started,” Ugarte said. He said recruiting at an early age and getting young corrections officers paired with senior officers during shifts will help grow the force and address the staff shortage. He said increasing staffing at the jail may also help boost morale since detention officers are working long shifts. “I think that they’re overworked and underappreciated,” Ugarte said. Responding to school threats Aside from addressing day-to-day operations, the next county sheriff will also be charged with responding to substantial threats and false alarms at area schools. One incident in April led to three Clint Independent School District campuses to be locked down while multiple law enforcement agencies responded, including the Sheriff’s Office. Officers conducted room-by-room searches with weapons in hand to secure the schools, including Mountain View High School. A 16-year-old student who was carrying a toy gun that had been spray painted black was charged with making a terroristic threat. The police response garnered some backlash on social media, with parents saying that sort of law enforcement response could traumatize students. “It’s really hard – it’s a balance,” Ugarte said of having to respond to incidents at schools. Ugarte acknowledged the experience of having officers looking for an alleged armed subject and kicking down doors may be traumatizing. But it has to be done, he said. “On the other hand, as a law enforcement officer, do you go in there without your weapon and ask questions when the last information you have is that there’s a subject with a gun?” he said. Ugarte said they cannot take the risk and assume it’s another prank. “It puts us in a very difficult situation,” he said, adding they have to secure everyone’s safety. Flores said he would rather have an over response than not take the situation seriously when it comes to a potential active shooter. “You need to get there quickly, safely and then you need to be ready for whatever that situation is,” he said. “If they are (traumatized) by that we need to provide that help for them through the schools, or through our crime victims compensation or, getting the mental health community involved.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/05/16/elections-2024-el-paso-sheriff-primary-runoff-bobby-flores-oscar-ugarte/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/