14 June 2024, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – With the El Paso Police Department, it never ends. We could write a soap opera based on this Department that pits good cops against bad cops while supporting and protecting the latter.

The El Paso Police Department, in its attempt to project an image of transparency, often presents a narrative that is far from the truth. We are led to believe in a facade of openness, but the reality is often obscured by a veil of deception.

Sgt. John Chavez, a shining example of the Department’s failure at total transparency, picked up two DWIs in short order. Both are pending trial; a docket call is scheduled for 25 July 2024, and a jury trial is set for 7 August 2024.

The El Paso Police Department has yet to issue any press release concerning the above cases nor acknowledge that Chavez is ridding a desk at the Northeast Regional Command Center.

Why do I mention that? The alleged criminal, Sergeant John Chavez, has been arrested once again.

John Gabriel Chavez, Case No. 2024-PFILE06496, was picked up for theft of service.

Despite the fact that there are now three pending charges against John Chavez, he remains a member of the force. This is one of those proverbial WTF moments where you just shake your head and wonder what is wrong with the EPPD command.

The Chief of Police doesn’t care about honoring his pledge to you and me, where he is to protect and serve us. He would rather keep crooks on payroll while punishing someone from Sgt. Camp because his wife shared a video with us.

There needs to be a change within the Department, a housecleaning—remove Command staff at Five Points and start fresh. Hell, bring in a new chief. Actually, bring in someone fresh from outside the Department.

Not a single person in command cares about the officers on the street. Command doesn’t listen to officers or consider suggestions from those who dare to patrol the streets. I would love to see Chief Peter Pacillas or Lt. Inciriaga patrol the streets for a week.

Sgt. John Chaves is a problem that you and I must continue paying for. It may be time to hold the Mayor of El Paso accountable.

Other we’ve written about.

Sgt. Smith, the officer involved in the fatal shooting of Michael Anthony Estrada. “SWAT was called on Smith,” says an Officer with the El Paso Police Department. “He was threatening to harm fellow officers. He was taken in on an EDO (Emergency Detention Order) because of what happened.”

Sgt John Chavez was arrested for two DWIs and is now thiet of service. Even though he’s not yet been convicted, his arrest speaks to his integrity and ability to uphold the law he’s sworn to uphold.

Officer Jessica Grijalva was soon to be promoted to lieutenant because of her DWI arrest. She should not be on the force even though she took a pretrial diversion program that erased her arrest and booking information. 

Did you know Jessica may have a prior criminal record even before she joined the Department?

Lt. John Surface, who was accused of sexual harassment and charged with official oppression, even though the El Paso Police Department and the District Attorney’s office do not have the spine to prosecute a police officer, he needs to be fired.

An interesting fact is that those who engage in sexual harassment will do it again.

Sgt. Adan Chavez, another officer charged with Lt. John Surface, should never have been on the force.

Sgt. Chaves’s criminal case (Case No. 2023-PFILE09137) is also listed as inactive. It seems the El Paso Police Department believes in “rules for thee, not for me.”

Public Information Officer Sgt. Robert Gomez Dereliction of Duty – failure to obey an order. He has zero integrity and will never be transparent about the Department.

CIT Officer Perez According to statements made by the PIO in other cases, Perez is specifically trained to handle situations involving hostages or mental health crises. Instead, he hid in the bushes, and another officer had to step in to save a life.

The Chief of Police, Peter Pacillas, should be fired for agreeing to have a training directive issued, claiming that a directive issued on 29 March is effective 7 February 2024.

We could name other officers, but they will be featured in their articles.

---

Understand, I am not anti-police. I support the men and women who wear the badge. These officers put their lives on the line daily in an otherwise thankless profession. I cannot stand officers who use the badge as a power trip to feed their egos. We need to remove those officers from the Department. We will make that happen with the help of those officers and detectives who have come forward.

---