Tucumcari Police Detective. Kim Crockett began her police career in Roswell. She has been with the Tucumcari Police Department for eight months.

Tucumcari Police Detective Kim Crockett has been serving the citizens of Tucumcari for eight months. She brings 11 and 1/2 years of experience working in New Mexico law enforcement agencies. The Quay County Sun talked to Crockett about her career in law enforcement and what she likes about being a detective.

Question: Have you always wanted to be in law enforcement?
Answer: Since I was a young girl growing up in Artesia I have wanted to be a cop.
When I was younger my brother-in-law would come down from Colorado to Artesia on holidays. He was a senior officer with the Denver Police department, and he would bring his booking cards and we would use them as flash cards. He would ask me who is this suspect and what are his aliases. I admired the work that he did.
I became an officer for a lot of reasons like, doing the right thing, catching the bad guys.  It all sounds flip, but it is what I like about this job: Making a difference.

Q: What kind of experience have you had since you began your career in Roswell in 1995?
 A: I helped to start the K-9 program in Roswell, in my first two years there. But I  was unable to continue after I was injured during a foot pursuit of an armed suspect.
The K-9 and I were shot at by a fleeing suspect. As we rounded a corner, a downed fence covered by debris forced the K-9 and me  to fall. I Broke my arm, worked three more calls before getting to the hospital, but the suspect we were chasing was caught later that night.
I then moved up to the criminal investigation unit, where I worked for nine years in that division, working my way up to become the lead detective.
I love being a detective. As a detective you are there as a fact gatherer and not there to press your opinion. You have to listen to all sides of the story, victim, suspect and witnesses. Professionalism needs to play a large part in what you do. There is a letter of the law and we follow it.

Q: So for two years you were not working in law enforcement?
A: My husband is a partner in a CPA firm that operates out of Roswell and Clovis. Two years ago he was chosen to run the firm in Clovis, I was not going to move at first but at the last second I did.
For two years I lived in Clovis and was running out of things to do around the house and decided to get back into law enforcement.
Chief Roger Hatcher offered me the job and my husband agreed that I should do what I enjoy doing the most.

Q: How do you like Tucumcari?
A: I really love working for this department. There are a lot of talented officers. I have told the officers that my door is always open and I will be glad to help them on any case.
The chief is always willing to help and will not ask any of his officers to do something he is not willing to do himself.
I would like to see the department at full staff, with all of the officers certified. Having a full staff will make our schedules a lot more manageable. It will also allow the officers to become pro-active, working on preventing crime than rushing to call after call.