New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy names Fabian Valdez as director

New Mexico’s top law enforcement training post now belongs to Fabian M. Valdez, and the appointment could ripple far beyond Santa Fe. The state academy trains and certifies officers and telecommunicators across New Mexico, including the smaller agencies that help safeguard Los Alamos County.

The Department of Public Safety named Valdez director of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy on June 12 after what it described as a more than yearlong search that drew candidates from across the country. Valdez brings more than 28 years of sworn law enforcement experience, including four years as chief of police in San Fernando, California, and earlier service with the San Gabriel Police Department. His career has moved from patrol officer to chief, with responsibility along the way for patrol operations, investigations, professional standards, administrative work and training programs.

That background matters because the academy is not just a classroom in Santa Fe. It is an organizational unit of the Department of Public Safety, supervised by policy set by the Law Enforcement Academy Board, and state law says it exists to provide basic and in-service training to keep law enforcement skills current statewide. DPS says the academy oversees nine sub-academies, a structure that gives the director broad influence over admission criteria, certification procedures and the way standards are carried out across New Mexico.

For Los Alamos County residents, the practical question is what changes officers might carry back to local streets, schools and neighborhoods. A director with deep training experience can influence the tone of recruit development, officer wellness, leadership preparation and how new officers handle calls involving domestic violence, crisis intervention, mental and emotional health, juvenile law and firearms. Those are not abstract concerns for a county where residents expect steady, professional response from agencies that often work with limited staffing and high public scrutiny.

The academy’s recent graduation statistics show how large that pipeline remains. On May 19, 39 cadets from 18 agencies completed Basic Police Officer Training after more than 750 hours of instruction. That curriculum included domestic violence response, crisis intervention, mental and emotional health, criminal and juvenile law, evidence collection, surveillance, suspect identification and basic firearms. Valdez’s hire arrives as the academy continues to set the baseline for how officers across New Mexico are prepared, and that makes the post consequential for communities like Los Alamos that depend on the quality of training long before a deputy or officer answers the first call.