El Paso County Sheriff's Office attends gun show as part of firearm safety, recruiting efforts

Jan. 29—The Tanner Gun Show, a three-day firearms expo held at the Norris Penrose Event Center, featured about 470 display tables with vendors hawking a vast array of rifles, pistols, ammunition, knives, survival gear and a variety of other items. But there was at least one table in the large event venue that wasn't offering anything for sale.

Representatives from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office occupied a table at the weekend event, with two objectives in mind: To stress the importance of gun safety and proper home storage; and to get the word out about its recruiting efforts.

Educating gun owners on safe firearms storage is a critical component in suicide prevention efforts, Sgt. Jason Garrett said.

Suicides account for the majority of gun deaths in the U.S. In 2020, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. — more than 24,000 — were suicides, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

"As an agency, we support the Second Amendment," Garrett said. "But let's talk about responsible storage, and about doing what we can to keep firearms away from people in crisis.

"If we can get gun owners to do a better job or rethink the way they store their firearms, then when a person is in crisis, a gun won't be available to them, and hopefully the crisis passes, and that life could possibly be saved."

Garrett and other El Paso County officers, including Sheriff Joe Roybal, offered flyers and pamphlets on gun safety, mental health support and other crisis resources.

"Unfortunately, El Paso County has the dubious distinction of being a state leader most years in suicide by firearms," Garrett said. "From a public safety standpoint, it made sense for us to be here."

The Sheriff's Office's presence at the gun show was also part of a recruiting campaign to combat attrition, officials said. Shortly after Roybal assumed leadership, he announced the return of his agency's Peace Officer Standards and Training certified academies.

In 2018 the law enforcement agency, under then-Sheriff Bill Elder, began using a shorter, noncertified training program, primarily to mitigate staffing shortages among the detention officers.

The POST academy is a 22-week law enforcement crash course, taught by subject matter experts, that mixes classroom instruction with reality-based skills training to teach a wide range of topics, including ethics, nonbiased policing, search and seizure, firearms, arrest control, CPR, driving, evidence processing and use of force.

The first POST academy of 2023 is set to begin in late March or early April, Garrett said. Sheriff's Office officials hope to begin the course with 48 prospective deputies.

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Proficiency with a firearm is an important qualification for a law enforcement officer, but the Sheriff's Office is primarily looking for candidates with the people skills to effectively interact with community members and deescalate certain situations before they turn violent, Garrett said.

"We want people who are good communicators, and who have a heart for people," he said. "The things you see on the police TV shows and movies — the chases and the shootouts and all that — those happen extremely rarely. But what does happen every day, whether it's in our jail or out on the street ...is that you are impacting human beings on a personal level."

Potential officers also need to be cognizant of the mental health aspect of the job, officials said. When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, the first professional they encounter is often a law enforcement officer.

"Cops aren't called when people are having a good day," Garrett said. "A lot of the time, we are the first responders (in a mental health crisis)."

The ideal law enforcement candidate, Garrett said, is someone with a combination of empathy and selflessness. As evidenced by the line-of-duty deaths of two El Paso County deputies in the last five years — Micah Flick in 2018 and Andrew Peery in 2022 — courage is a key attribute as well.

"They have to be brave," Garrett said. "Sometimes we have to get engaged in dangerous situations in orders to keep others safe. (Deputy Peery) jumped out of his car because a (seriously injured) woman was laying in a front yard. Those are the kind of people that we're looking for."

Among the thousands of gun enthusiasts who attended the show, few people seemed willing to speak with a law enforcement officer in full uniform. But a few did stop by the EPCSO table.

"I'm thinking about (becoming a law enforcement officer)," said an attendee who asked not to be named. "I really admire what they do for the community."

The Sheriff's Office is considering other recruitment strategies, but for now it's mostly word-of-mouth, Garrett said.

"We're looking for professional, empathetic, brave people who are here to do a good job," he said. "That's what this community needs."

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