Sheriff Joseph Roybal and the nearly 1,000 dedicated sworn and professional staff of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office remain committed to fostering safety for our community and our neighbors while ensuring Constitutional and civil rights are upheld regardless race, color, national origin, or any other legally protected characteristic. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office takes all allegations of crime and civil rights violations seriously.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has become aware of an on-line article (https://tinyurl.com/5a97sthh) alleging racial discrimination on the part of our Office and some of its employees. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office vehemently denies these allegations.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office feels the need to comment further because the article’s author did not seek comment from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office before publishing it and the article has garnered attention from within and outside of our community at a time when relationships between some law enforcement agencies and the communities which they serve are strained.
Within the last two years and through the end of January 2023, the El Paso County Sheriff’s has investigated 19 different complaints filed by and/or involving the individuals identified in the article against members of the Sheriff’s Office. Each of these complaints were individually and thoroughly investigated. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has also responded to over 170 calls for service that involve the individuals identified in the article (accurate as of February 2, 2023).
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office will provide the public with the legally releasable documents and records related to these complaints and calls for service, including body worn camera video, upon request through the records request process. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office believes that this information will prove that it and its employees acted in an appropriate and professional manner in all of their interactions with the individuals who are the subject of the article.