17 December 2024, El Paso, Texas, David Gomez—When we report to work, we are expected to know our duties. If we are new hires or transferred in, we expect our higher-ups to understand what we are to do and train us accordingly. This would make sense for any form of employment.

If you are Jessica Grijalva and work for the El Paso Police Department, everyone is clueless about your job description and day-to-day duties.

“Grijalva was moved from Five Points and is field support,” said an officer who recently ran into Sergeant Grijalva. “What exactly is that, field support?”

Southwest News Today has written about Sergeant Grijalva in the past. We even shared a publicly available video of her arrest for driving under the influence.

In that incident, Grijalva denied that she was intoxicated, was arguing with officers, and continually begged officers to contact a lieutenant who would seemingly vouch for her or let her go free. All this is from a woman who holds the rank of Sergeant and is employed by a police department that is said to champion transparency and accountability.

Grijalva was stopped for speeding in a 2019 Honda Civic in the 1300 block of George Dieter Drive, according to police officials.

According to the arrest affidavit for Grijalva, it indicated that her results for an alcohol Breathalyzer test showed it was, at one point, 0.182 and 0.190 — double the legal limit in Texas.

The maximum legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) while driving is .08 in Texas.

Sergeant Grijalva was once on a list to be promoted to lieutenant, but that promotion has yet to materialize. Today, rather than working out of the Five Points, she is doing something no one can define.

To dig into the truth of this new assignment, our editor, Steven Zimmerman, sent the following to the El Paso Police Department through the FOIA portal operated by the City of El Paso:

“…We understand that Police Sgt Jessica Grijalva is now acting as a Field Support officer.

“What are the duties of and the job description for a Field Support Officer?

“Thank you”.

What Mr. Zimmerman and Southwest News Today received flies in the face of the Department’s claims of transparency.

“Please be advised that I have been informed that there are no responsive documents pertaining to your request. As no responsive documents have been located, there is no charge associated with this response and your request is now considered closed” responded Antonio Flores C2039, Police Records Specialist with the El Paso Police Department.

“There is transparency,” said an officer working overtime at a Walmart in El Paso. I showed him Antonio Flores’s response and asked him if he knew what a Field Support Officer does.

“It is a new one for me,” said the officer. “I bet they plan to keep her out of the spotlight and promote her. Go to bars and get your bars seems to be what it’s about.”

There was once a time in police departments, great and small, that if you were arrested for a crime, you would have your employment terminated and your certification as a peace officer revoked. That is no longer the case.

If you work for the El Paso Police Department and are arrested for driving while under the influence, you are given a “special” pre-trial diversion program that seemingly erases your arrest and court records from EPCounty.com and blessed by the Chief. Life continues as if nothing occurred.

It’s a sad day for El Paso.

The following are printouts of my search for Grijalva’s arrest or court records for DWI.