20 March 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – What you are about to read, about the El Paso Police Department, is happening now, but offically becomes department policy 1 April 2025.
In an article entitled Brass Comes First, Citizens Come Last, I quoted an officer from the El Paso Police Department, who stated:
“They [Police Command] are putting the community last and helping themselves first. This has been going on for years and years,” says an Officer out of Five Points. “Command and Pacillas are hurting the department and the people, and they don’t care.”
“I know what the numbers show,” says a Detective with the El Paso Police Department, “but the reality is different.”
The El Paso Police Department publicly shows that it has 1,119 uniformed officers. These are significant numbers, as they make you think that if you call 911 for service, a uniformed officer will come out quickly or the case you filed will be solved promptly.
What if I told you that reality doesn’t meet the fiction on paper?
“CID (Criminal Investigation Division) is now appointed to supplement Graveyard Patrol due to a lack of manpower for patrol calls,” says an officer with the El Paso Police Department. “CAP (Crimes Against Persons) has now ordered CID to handle sexual assault cases because CAP is overworked, with so many cases, caseloads, and lack of manpower. CID is now handling sexual assaults, and they are not specialized in this area like CAP. This was a decision that no doubt came from Commander Lawrence Lujuan.”
Every police department has specialized units that handle particular crimes. In El Paso, Texas, Crimes Against Persons has historically been tasked with handling sexual assault cases involving adults, and Crimes Against Children handles sexual assault cases involving children.
“CID is already overworked,” says a Detective from EPPD’s CID. “There are areas in town where Detectives are required to work graveyard shifts as a patrol after their regular shifts. Pacillas [EPPD Police Chief Peter Pacillas] doesn’t care.”
Within the Criminal Investigation Division ranks Detectives have nowhere to turn to voice their concerns or have issues such as this one addressed.
“The Chief says he has an open door policy,” says another CID Detective, “and he can’t take the time to meet with me because his schedule is packed. Shouldn’t you have a day for officers if you have an open-door policy? Like Mayor Jonathan Rogers had for the people of El Paso, a day when anyone can come in and talk.”
What does this mean for the people of El Paso and the Detectives who want to work cases and make arrests?
When you dump sexual assault cases on a division that does not usually handle such cases, you end up with a backlog of cases and crimes being neglected.
“Noting was officially given to or sent to us,” says a senior CID Detective. “This is an in-house decision from CAP and not signed off on by the Chief. Here we are with more on our plate. This needs to stay with CAP.”
One officer asked, with this change from Crimes Against Persons to the Criminal Investigation Division, who has the authority to give authority for a SANE (Sexual Assult Nurse Examiner) to provide a test post-sexual assault.
The answer leaves much to be desired.
“We honestly don’t know,” says a Detective with CID. “We’ve been discussing that and haven’t received any clear direction.”
What is sad is that one officer we spoke with fears that the City of El Paso and the El Paso Police Department hope the victim will cover the cost of the SANE exam. He is unsure if that is the case but said it is something officers are discussing among themselves.
“If you call us,” says another Detective, “you have this mindset that we will be there and chase down the person that hurt you. This new caseload, the addition of what CAP should be doing, will make this worse. As for SANE, we don’t know who does that now or who approves it.”
The Detective said that they will have to receive specialized training covering sex crimes while working on sex crimes. He also noted that other cases, such as forgery, theft, burglary, and others, would take longer to close.
“I’m not saying cases are not important, and closing them is not important,” says the Detective. “We want to close cases. We want to solve cases. The people of El Paso will suffer because of the added caseload to what we are already working on, and the fact that some of us have to write tickets at night means we will have to prioritize what we handle internally and when.”
I hear you asking, but the department has 1,119 officers; indeed, there are enough officers. Ah, but if that were the truth.
Here’s the reality: a Regional Command has the following:
- TAC – a specialized unit that may or may not count toward the total number of officers in the Lower Valley (We are using Mission Valley Regional Command as our example);
- PAR – the officers who do presentations in the community and mediation;
- CID – detectives;
- Traffic – they cover the roadways – traffic enforcement, and parade details; keep in mind traffic does not respond to 911 calls for service;
- Patrol – officers who respond to 911 calls.
The total number of sworn officers in Mission Valley, which we count as the Sergeants, Lieutenants, or commanders, is 103 and is divided among these units. Remember that patrol is the only unit responding to 911 calls, and CID is the detectives who work the case generated from your call.
“Think of this,” says an El Paso’s Westside patrol officer. Sometimes, parts of town, different Regional Commands, will only have a couple of cars out, taking 911 calls. This is why some Commanders have detectives working overtime as a patrol. This will cause cases to suffer.”
“CAP works within an on-call system for calls that come in overnight,” says an officer with the El Paso Police Department. “The problem is, there is no on-call CID supervisor; it doesn’t exist. Does this mean patrol units will be tied up all night, not clearing calls, while everyone, including the victim, waits for normal working hours for a detective to come out on a sexual assault call?”
The officer said that they fear that a victim who is told they have to wait until 7 or 8 A.M. for a detective from CID to come in may not want to continue with the charges.
“Can you imagine if I am on a call and tell the victim they must wait until morning to talk to a detective? Do you think they will want to continue with the charges,” says the officer. “The first thing a sexual assault victim wants to do is shower and change clothes, and this destroys evidence. This doesn’t track. Does this mean that CID will only respond when they are working? Monday to Friday from 8 to 5?”
Another officer said that, within the Department and City’s flawed logic, they may want people not to report violent crimes so that the City may fudge its numbers in hopes of regaining the “Safest City” title.
“I know what the numbers show,” says a Detective with the El Paso Police Department, “but the reality is different. There is no sustainable way we can continue shuffling things around as a department. We are at our breaking point, and Pacillas, Johnson [Mayor Renard Johnson], and the City Manager [Dionne Mack] don’t care. We need to stop having people who haven’t written a ticket in decades or ever worked a case make these decisions. Talk to us, the Officers, and see our ideas.”
Just to recap, Crimes Against Persons, which is specifically trained to handle cases of sexual assault, aggravated assault, and suicide, is now passing this on to the Criminal Investigation Division, which is already overloaded with robberies, threats of violence, criminal mischief, burglary, deceptive business practices, family violence, and more.
“I’m not sure I can stay with this department any longer,” says a veteran Detective. “We need more boots on the ground and units to handle assigned cases in our organizational chart. Not this, not this Buster Keaton version of a department. I work on JV (juvenile) crimes, and I’m pulled to CID. Make it make sense.”
We’ve also learned that Crime Scene will no longer come out to process burglary of vehicles. So, if fingerprints exist, it will be up to the officer to take them and process them. This is not a bad idea, as the scene will be processed immediately, but Crime Scene is specifically trained for this type of work.
No matter what happens in the minds of Command or the City, the citizens will suffer.