Biography

Name: Peter E. Melendez “Pete Melendez”

Age: 45

Occupation: El Paso County Constable, Precinct #4, 2nd Term

Website: www.petemelendez.com

Residence: East Side

Relevant Experience: Elected constable in 2002 and became the first El Paso county constable to get paid deputies for all constable’s with the Paid Deputy Pilot Program idea. This program has generated over 12 million dollars for El Paso County and the State of Texas without raising taxes. This program has also made more money than any one program any constable has implemented in the county’s history. First constable to actively patrol the precinct, investigate and prosecute criminal cases and the only constable to have his department policies and procedures approved by the El Paso County Civil Service Board.

Took over the constable’s office in March of 2002 with the precinct in the red and with only six months left in the year got the precinct back to a 12 percent positive revenue status ($75 K). Continues to increase the precinct revenue to its current ½ a million dollars a year.

Since taking office I am the only constable to maintain an Internal Affairs Department with highly qualified Investigators, (from 2002 to 2004 retired El Paso Police Detective Leo Calanche, from 2004 to 2007 retired El Paso Police Detective Alfonso Frias and currently retired El Paso Police Department Homicide Detective Art Perez).

Have been a licensed peace officer since 1999 in good standing with TCLEAOSE and currently hold an advanced peace officer’s license. Hold a TCLEOSE Instructors License with specialized certifications for pepper spray, collapsible baton and taser. Have extensive training and experience in the fields of Drug Interdiction, DWI Task Force Operations, Court Civil Process, Court Room Security and Law Enforcement Field Command and Management. Currently have 62 hours of college credit for criminal justice, hold a Texas security officer and Private Investigator Commission. I also received my Texas Barber license in 1982. Prior to law enforcement I worked for six years as a warehouse supervisor and manger over seeing the import and export of product, inventor control and employee management. Spent several years in retail sales, customer service and sales marketing, I also operated the family barbershop with my father from 1982 to 1986.

From March 2001 to December 2001 was Chief Deputy under Constable Calanche and wrote the Department Policies and Procedures along with the Racial Profiling Policies for precinct #5. While employed with the Culberson County Sheriffs Department (Dec 2001 to March 2002), Trans Peco’s Drug Task Force I wrote the current policies and procedures along with the Racial Profiling policies. Implement a new report writing system, which is still being used by the Culberson County Sheriff’s Department.

Finally, I am best known for my two community programs. The School Zone Crosswalk Program where we safeguard parents and students in the school zone by assisting the crossing guards. The other program is the CARE program, “Constable Assisting Retired and Elderly”. We go out once a week to check on elderly persons who live in the precinct and are apart of the program.

1. Describe the most important issue for your position.

To continue the high standards of professionalism and integrity which my department is best known for during the continued growth of the department. Focus on specific areas of growth such as the department Civil Process Unit which its caseload has exploded due to new state legislative changes. Implementation of the ASAP “Assisting Students Attendance Program” with the Ysleta ISD. Obtaining additional Deputies for the warrants division to execute or collect on the 3.5 million dollars in outstanding warrants and bring the precinct revenue up to 2.5 million or more a year. Become active with the 911 system and to provide law enforcement services to the community of precinct # 4 such as (24 hours a day, seven days a week patrol units). This is the norm in all other major counties in Texas. And finally, maintain the CARE and Morning Cross Walk Programs for the community.

2. How would you describe the position?

The constable is the chief officer and administrator of his department. Traditionally the constable in a major county would maintain his duties from his office on a Monday through Friday schedule and allow his chief deputy, captains, lieutenants, and sergeants manage and supervise his department and report back to the constable. In El Paso county the constable does not have these resources so he is responsible for all the duties done by the above listed personnel. Below is a list of job description:

Supervise a staff of three full-time paid deputy constable’s and ten reserve deputy constables.

Write the department policies and procedures to include the racial profiling policies and supervise the deputies and enforce those policies.

Field questions and complaints from the public.

As state law requires, the constable or one of his deputies must be in court to act as bailiff when court is in session.

Oversee the issuance of all civil documents to the reserve deputies and monitor the return time so it does not exceed 90 days.

Supervise the warrants divisions to assure that the deputies are managing their time and staying on the job standard which is between $250,000.00 and $350,000.00 a year in warrant revenue.

As constable I am the only person who handles eviction cases which can be as few as ten a week or as many as 80 a week, Writs of Possession (forcible evictions) and Writs of Execution (collection of court ordered judgments). These cases have a high level of liability to the constable’s office and the county and this is why I am the only one who handles them at this time.

Public relation is a huge part of my job and I have used it to promote the Constable’s, issue press releases to inform the community of important operation or incident involving criminals. I have also used my media skill to bring light to the community of problems with the county.

Criminal cases: I personally review all criminal case generated through the department prior to presenting these cases to the District Attorneys Office for prosecution. My office has averaged between 30 and 40 criminal cases a year since taking office in 2002 and I have a 97 percent indictment rate.

Patrol and traffic duties: When I am out serving papers I am on patrol and keeping an eye out for traffic violation, problem in the residential and business areas.

Budgeting: Every year I have to generate a proposal for County Commissioner to explain my request for funding. I then have to give a presentation to Commissioner during budget hearing to justify my request. Currently my budget is $205,000.00 and I am responsible for not exceeding my allocated funding for the year.

As you can see, the job of constable in El Paso county is very diverse.

3. Why do constables exist, and why should the public care about the position?

The constable’s are the grandfather law enforcement officers of the world dating back to the mid evil times. In Texas the constable is also the grandfather law enforcement officer of the state. When Texas was a republic, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin Commissioned the constable to be the county law and gave them state powers. These powers were defined in the Texas constitution. When Texas became a part of the union the duties of the constable were again defined in the Texas constitution and have been ratified by the criminal code of procedures. These are the duties:

The constable is a county entity with countywide jurisdiction. The constable will be assigned to an area called a precinct and will be an elected official with appointed deputies to assist him. The constable’s main duties are to bailiff the Justice Court when court is in session, have jurisdiction over all document generated by the Justice Court and be required to execute all process of those documents. The constable will have ultimate jurisdiction in his precinct and must maintain the peace and enforce the laws in said precinct and county. The constable will also have concurrent jurisdiction (can go from his county to any other county in Texas which border his county) to help maintain the peace. The constable has statewide jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations. Finally, the constable’s are associate member of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The constable’s are one of the only law enforcement departments required by the Texas constitution.

Why should the public care about the constable: constable’s are peace officers required to take the same training as any police officer or sheriff’s deputy in Texas. Constable are also required to take an addiction 40 hours of civil process training every four years which is not required for municipal police officers making the constable and his deputy’s experts in civil law.

In El Paso county the constable’s are one of the only departments that generate positive financial revenue and are self-supportive. Given this fact, the public should be very concerned that we are not being allowed to grow so that we can be out protecting the community. When the city police and the county sheriff are spending more money than they generate and the constable’s are generating millions of dollars without raising taxes the community should be out raged. We could provide 911 services to the community and be a vital part of network protecting them along with the city police and sheriff’s department. This is being done in all other major counties in Texas, why not here?

4. How would you operate more efficiently and/or cut costs?

Currently my department is generating about 3 times more revenue than we spend annually. The only problem I see is that the Constable’s are not getting a fair share of the monies they are giving to the county coffers.

5. What is the relationship between constables and other law enforcement?

In El Paso county the constables are being force to only a secondary role in the law enforcement community. We do lead the county in warrant revenue and arrest more wanted subjects than any other law enforcement agencies in El Paso. Due to the fact that law enforcement agency use statics to apply for state and federal grant money, we are seen as poachers who might infringe on what is perceived as there calls or stats. In conclusion, the role statewide of the constable’s is a mutual blending of patrol, traffic, and investigative duties with the police and sheriff’s departments excluding El Paso.