As Ken Christesen sat drinking his coffee in TJ’s Downtown Diner on June 4, he was interrupted every few minutes by people congratulating him on securing the Republican nomination for San Juan County Sheriff.
Christesen was dubbed the “coffee shop sheriff” during his campaign. It was true that when he was sheriff from 2011-2019, he could be found in area diners and coffee shops meeting with the public and listening to their concerns.
Now, with no Democrat on the November ballot, Christesen is likely the next sheriff of San Juan County. He received 43% of the vote.
“I want to thank all the voters, whether they voted for me or not,” Christesen said. “Thank you for participating in one of our most valuable rights, especially during the 250th anniversary of our country.”
Christesen has big plans to curb crime in San Juan County and to address areas that attract homeless residents and intoxicated individuals, who often are involved in criminal activity.
“There’s two No. 1 issues I heard from people while campaigning,” Christesen said. “When I campaigned in the city of Farmington, people talked about how horrible traffic was – speeding, racing, running red lights. There were the same concerns in the county, but the No. 1 issue was catch and release.”
Christesen said no one in government is fighting to end catch and release, which is something Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe has expressed concerns about as well.
“There’s no doubt that catch and release has been a significant challenge for law enforcement and public safety,” Hebbe said. “I look forward to working with Ken to continue to highlight the many examples where this has been bad for our community’s safety.”
Christesen said he wants to work with the police chiefs in Farmington, Aztec and Bloomfield, the Navajo Nation and San Juan County officials to come up with solutions.
“They need to all stand up together, if they’re tired of the high crime rate and violence against police officers,” Christesen said.
This is how he addressed a stretch of U.S. 64 that was “crime ridden” during his years as sheriff.
“When we cleaned up the areas between the My Place Bar and the Zia Bar, I worked with all the entities involved,” Christesen said. “Every week someone was dying on the road or in the parking lot.”
Those entities “attacked it one step at a time. We didn’t allow people to loiter in the parking lots. If they were intoxicated, we took them to detox which is now shut down. If they needed a ride – we took them home,” Christesen said.
“When we get one city on board, then we move to the next,” Christesen said, adding then he plans to work with the other 33 sheriffs in the state to “duplicate the process” across New Mexico.
“We’ve got to get the county sheriffs back together,” Christesen said, adding the New Mexico Sheriff’s Association “has been very quiet and not very useful over the past seven or eight years.”
“When we get that organization back together, we can start functioning as a group. We can start working together to fight crime,” Christesen said.
He also would like to see qualified immunity back in play to protect law enforcement and all government employees and volunteers from having to defend themselves when legal disputes arise. “That will help all agencies in the state,” Christesen said.
Christesen added that he is ready to get to work.
“Over the next months, I plan on working with Sheriff Shane Ferrari and see what he has in place,” Christesen said. “We’ll have time to talk and visit and see what we can enhance, what we can continue and what we can change.”
Ferrari on social media congratulated Christesen and said, “Ken has my full support as our administrations transition at the end of the year.”
Ferrari asked the staff of the Sheriff’s Office “to stand behind your next sheriff. Strong organizations are built when people come together with a shared commitment to serving others” and to “continue serving with the professionalism, integrity, and compassion that have made this agency one of the finest in New Mexico.”
Ferrari added, “Ken, I wish you success as you prepare to lead the Sheriff’s Office once again.”
“We’ll have time to talk and visit and see what we can enhance, what we can continue and what we can change.”