NEWS

Former El Paso sheriff's deputy, military contractor to run for Doña Ana County sheriff

Justin Garcia
Las Cruces Sun-News
Omar Chavez stands outside the Sun-News building on Jan. 26, 2022.

LAS CRUCES - Omar Chávez decided to run for sheriff six months after the last election.

He told the Las Cruces Sun-News in a recent interview that his mind was made up shortly after Kim Stewart, the current sheriff, took office. From the get-go, Chávez has taken issue with Stewart's practices and policy. 

"I saw the type of leadership that she was providing," he said. "And I didn't agree with it."

Chávez, 46, is one of three candidates challenging Stewart in the 2022 Doña Ana County Sheriff's election. He's also one of two Republicans that will face off in the primary on June 7. In that election, Chávez will square off against Byron Hollister, who will be profiled in the Sun-News next week. 

The winner of the Republican primary will face either Stewart or her democratic challenger James Frietze. 

Like the other three candidates, Chávez, who currently lives in Santa Teresa, has spent a lifetime in law enforcement. Unlike the other candidates, his career has taken him around the world. 

Chávez was born in Los Angles but was raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. He reentered the U.S. when he was 16 and spent many of his teen years working as a farm laborer. At the time, he said he knew very little English. 

When he was young, Chávez said he wanted to become a prosecutor or defense attorney after discovering an interest in the law.

"But I come from a poor family and can never afford law school," he said. 

So he looked at another wing of America's criminal justice system, the police. In 1997, he started as a patrol officer in the Anthony, Texas Police Department and later became a field training officer. By 2000, he was a patrol sergeant. 

A lack of opportunity for upward advancement eventually forced Chávez to look elsewhere. He landed a job in the El Paso County Detention Center before moving to the El Paso County Sheriff's Department. 

His career in the El Paso Sheriff's office followed a similar course as that of his time in Anthony. Starting on patrol, Chávez eventually moved to field training. He then became a detective. 

Chávez worked on crimes against property including fraud and theft cases. Before long, Chávez said he was itching for another career advancement. In 2010, he went back to the patrol side and become a sergeant overseeing deputies in the southern reaches of El Paso County.

Moving from position to position, including on SWAT teams, inside the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, Chávez said he picked up a hobby and talent for precision shooting. 

"That's where my interest came into being a sniper," Chávez said. 

Chávez said he eventually transitioned into more of an administrative role where he wrote grants and worked with Texas officials to secure resources for the El Paso County Sherriff's Department. Shortly, his career took a dramatic turn when he applied to become an overseas government contractor. 

"Due to my background in SWAT and tagged as an instructor, I was in a way glamorized," he said. 

In 2017, he was sent to Kabul, Afghanistan and worked security for the U.S. embassy. During his time in Kabul, the U.S. embassy sustained an attack that Chávez said lasted hours. 

"It was a pretty heavy attack," he said. "We sustained that attack for five hours."

When Chávez returned to North America, he took another contracting job. Currently, he works with police municipalities across Mexico to train officers and senior staff.

If elected, Chávez said he would prioritize aligning DASO with federal agencies at the border, including Customs and Border Protection. 

"We have a problem in the United States. And part of the problem is the US-Mexico border," Chávez said. 

Chávez said he's fielded criticism that his positions on immigration and border issues are racist. He said that he rebuffs that criticism by citing his background as a man raised in Mexico. 

"For people to say that I'm discriminatory against the Mexican people, they really don't know what they are talking about. It is quite the opposite," he said. 

Chávez said he understands and empathizes with migrants crossing the border but said that the laws outweigh that reality. He also raised concerns about people involved in drug and human trafficking operations. 

"As a sheriff, I can't enforce immigration laws," Chávez said. But one of the things I can do is refer to Border Patrol those individuals that have committed a crime."

Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @Just516garc.

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