Farmington police chief acknowledges shooting of homeowner impacted citizen trust

• Steve Hebbe has led the Farmington Police Department since 2014.
• During his tenure, the department has been part of several adverse incidents.
• Hebbe said he tries his best to respond directly to every major incident his department faces and describe his decision making.

Having endured one of the more challenging and tumultuous periods in his department’s history earlier this year, Farmington police Chief Steve Hebbe reflected on those events and consider how they have impacted the way his agency is perceived by the community.

FARMINGTON ― On April 5, three Farmington Police Department officers responding to a late-night domestic violence report went to the wrong address and wound up shooting and killing the homeowner, Robert Dotson, after he answered the door armed with a handgun. Police say Dotson pointed his weapon at one member of the group and that the officers had no choice but to open fire. The department labeled the incident a tragic accident.

A little more than a month later, on the morning of May 15, several Farmington officers responded to a report of an active shooter in a residential neighborhood north of downtown. Officers arrived to find 18-year-old Farmington High School senior Beau Wilson roaming North Dustin Avenue, firing randomly at buildings and motorists. The officers engaged Wilson outside the First Church of Christ, Scientist and quickly shot and killed him, but not before Wilson had shot and killed three women and shot and injured a New Mexico State Police officer and a Farmington police sergeant.

The two incidents, both of which drew national media attention, generated much different public responses. The Dotson shooting was met with outrage and criticism on the part of many social media users, while the victim’s family retained the services of a pair of California attorneys who have vowed to file a lawsuit on their behalf in federal court against the department. Farmington officers were condemned on the department's Facebook page, while one of the attorneys for the Dotson family called for Hebbe’s resignation or firing, labeling hima coward, a liar and a manipulator.

The atmosphere was markedly different five weeks later in the aftermath of the mass shooting. Farmington officers were lauded for their speedy and effective response to the situation, as they took down Wilson within moments of arriving at the scene, despite facing gunfire from the assailant.

The willingness of the Farmington officers to immediately confront Wilson stood in sharp contrast to what has transpired during other mass shooting events around the country, especially those at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 and at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022, when some law enforcement officers have been criticized for what has been characterized as a tepid response.

Staying on the job

During a July 11 interview at police headquarters, Hebbe smiled ruefully as he recalled the differences in those reactions by the public and perhaps how they have altered the relationship between his department and the community.

Hebbe said he couldn’t help but think of himself metaphorically as a football coach who is castigated by fans one week for losing an important game, then regarded as a hero the next week for defeating an archrival, although he was careful to note that what took place in Farmington this spring had life-altering consequences for many people.

“Win or lose, I tend to really be the same guy,” Hebbe said.

“I try to stay on an even keel. In such an exceptionally short period of time, we were nationally attacked, then nationally praised. But, really, we’re still the same department, the same officers.”

Hebbe said he never considered resigning after the Dotson shooting.

“I really didn’t after that, and I have in the past (after other adverse incidents),” he said. “I subscribe to the theory that if you’re the leader of an agency, you’re responsible for what happens.”

The difference in this instance, he said, is that the shooting of Dotson was a direct result of officers mistakenly going to the wrong house, not a function of any policy or culture change Hebbe has tried to implement.

“My resignation wouldn’t have changed or improved that,” he said.

Maintaining trust

Nevertheless, Hebbe said there is no question the Dotson shooting has harmed his efforts to establish trust between his officers and all members of the community, especially those who feel like they were treated unfairly by the department in the past.

“I think it set us back, although measuring that is difficult,” said Hebbe.

“Every shooting we’ve been involved with, those hurt your relationship with the community. It’s why I spend as much time as I do speaking with the community. … We have to be working every day in policing to build that confidence, that trust. I’m working every day to make this a department people can trust.”

A history of department challenges

Hebbe said he'd endured adverse circumstances before, including during his nearly 10-year tenure as the chief in Farmington. Shortly after he arrived, the department’s evidence technician was arrested in October 2014 on suspicion of taking money and drugs from an evidence room. The chief responded by holding daily command briefings to determine how much damage the incident had caused to the department and what changes could be put in place to keep a similar situation from occurring. In the interests of transparency, Hebbe invited a Daily Times reporter to attend those meetings and report on what he witnessed.

There have been other negative incidents, as well, including several officer-involved shootings and the nationally publicized case of school resource officer who pleaded guilty to child abuse and battery in a 2019 case involving an 11-year-old female student. There was even a 2022 incident in which a woman who claimed she had been kidnapped from a sidewalk in front of a busy car wash before escaping later recanted her story.

Hebbe responded to the latter incident by posting an 11-minute video on social media in which he explained why he had decided not to have his department pursue charges against the woman. He said the woman and her family were in crisis and that no point would be served by arresting her, despite the flurry of social media attention the case had attracted. Hebbe urged community members to show compassion to the woman.

“ … we put bad guys in jail,” Hebbe said during the video, according to The Daily Times archives. “We don’t put people who are in crisis in jail.”

A nationwide issue

The Farmington Police Department is by no means the only law enforcement agency that has experienced challenges in its relationship with the community it serves over the past several years. A slew of well-publicized incidents in which police have been accused of using excessive or unwarranted force have occurred, causing a widespread decline in public confidence in law enforcement agencies.

According to a video published by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world, American public confidence in the police is shaped largely by age, race and party affiliation.

A 2020 poll conducted by the organization found that while most Americans are confident that police act in the best interests of the public, young adults are much less likely than older adults to say express that same level of confidence. Responses also differed sharply among different racial groups, with white Americans expressing the most favorable attitudes toward police and people of color expressing the least.

Those attitudes seemed to be shaped largely by the experiences of the respondents, as two-thirds of Black men and nearly half of all Black respondents who took part in the poll said they had been unfairly stopped by police, while only 9% of White adults reported the same experience.

The way police are viewed also varies widely according to party affiliation, with more than three times as many Republicans expressing a great deal of confidence in the police as Democrats.

The poll did find widespread support among Americans for several police policy changes, including requiring police to be trained in nonviolent alternatives to deadly force and the creation of a federal database to track officers accused of misconduct. Both proposals received the support of 90% or more of all respondents.

Additionally, 75% of those polled indicated they support the idea of giving civilian oversight boards the power to investigate and discipline officers accused of using inappropriate force or other misconduct.

'Policing is a difficult job right now'

Mayor Nate Duckett said that while the shooting of Robert Dotson was a tragic event and a difficult night for the entire community, he believes Farmington citizens still trust the department in general and Hebbe in particular.

“People in general understand that policing is a difficult job right now,” he said, citing the increased scrutiny law enforcement officials have drawn in recent years as more unfortunate incidents have come to light.

Duckett said he has watched Hebbe closely in his nine years on the job and has taken note of the degree to which the chief has encouraged his officers to connect with and care about the community they serve. Hebbe does that by setting a clear example for his officers, Duckett said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a police chief make themselves more available to the community,” he said, citing Hebbe’s daily habit of walking the trails system along the Animas River, as well as his visibility at such events the annual National Night Out event and community fundraisers.

“This is an individual that sends (condolence) cards to (the family) of every officer who has died in the United States,” Duckett said. “And he takes the time to go through the obituaries every day and call those families.”

The mayor said he spends little to no time on social media and did not pay much mind to the harsh criticism of Hebbe that emerged on the department’s Facebook page after the Dotson shooting.

“People who would call for the firing or resignation of that kind of person don’t know the chief,” he said. “And I do, and I’m proud to know him.”

Alexander Chambers, a local businessman who has announced his intention to run against Duckett for mayor in the November election, has made public safety a focus of his campaign, calling for the City Council to enact pay increases for police officers and firefighters while also calling for tougher drunk-driving penalties.

But as a member of the Navajo Nation, he also is a member of a group that historically has had significant trust issues with the Farmington Police Department. Chambers said he is willing to let the New Mexico State Police investigation into the Doston shooting unfold and await a ruling by the Attorney General’s Office about whether the officers should face charges before he decides whether the situation has been handled appropriately.

“Only then can we make an informed decision about how to prevent similar incidents in the future,” he said.

Chambers said full transparency in the State Police investigation, as well as the attorney general’s decision-making process, are very important, as anything less than a comprehensive examination of the circumstances surrounding the incident — including the officers’ use of force — is not acceptable. He said it was especially important to consider the actions police took as they arrived in Dotson’s neighborhood and mistakenly approached his door.

But he acknowledged that the fact that Dotson answered his door with a gun in his hand made the situation more complicated.

“I don’t care who you are, in situations where an individual brandishes a weapon before law enforcement officers, such activities can quickly escalate (a situation) and endanger others … ,” he said.

Chambers said it is only natural that some members of the community would begin to have second thoughts about law enforcement in the wake of such an incident, and it is no surprise that a lot of anger was expressed in the aftermath of the shooting.

“What they city needs to do is acknowledge and validate that, because it’s coming from community members who are outraged by that,” he said.

He said the mayor’s office needs to lead the way in fostering an open dialogue between the police department and the community, and he said he doesn’t feel like that has happened since the initial furor over the shooting subsided.

“They need to be saying, ‘We’re listening to your concerns, we’re engaged in these conversations and we’re committed to building trust in our community,’” Chambers said, adding that now is the time for the city to commit to police reform.

Duckett responded by saying he has never shied away from addressing the incident, explaining that he has spoken about it numerous times in City Council meetings and other public forums.

Remaining focused on policing

Hebbe said he tries his best to respond directly to every major incident his department faces and fully explain his decision making. But he acknowledged the Dotson shooting presented him with the most challenging, and stressful, set of circumstances he has faced in his law enforcement career in Anchorage, Alaska, and Farmington.

“It feels like it,” he said. “When I was in Anchorage, I was the deputy chief. There were some very stressful days, but ultimately, I wasn’t the top guy. So, here, I really feel that responsibility. The whole community has put their trust in me and looks for us to be perfect — and we’re not.”

He said the Dotson shooting and the mass shooting, and their aftermath, were highly emotional, often-intense situations that easily could have led to his officers becoming distracted from the day-to-day performance of their duties. Hebbe said his message to the members of his department was not to let that happen and that it was very important for them to manage their emotions appropriately.

“We’ve got to stay focused on the job — forget social media and don’t get caught up in the criticism,” Hebbe said he told his officers after the Dotson shooting.

The chief’s biggest fear — that something even bigger was looming on the horizon — was realized a month later when the mass shooting took place.

“I thought it could happen, and it did happen,” he said. “Then, my thought was, there could be a copycat. Maybe there were some kids who knew him and thought this could somehow be a good thing. So we had to prepare ourselves for that, too.”

Hebbe is still waiting on the decision form the Attorney General's Office about whether the three officers involved in the Dotson shooting will face charges. He said his understanding is that State Police have completed the report, but he said it is possible the AG’s Office has asked for more information or is seeking clarification on some details, as often happens in these situations.

Hebbe said he has no idea when to expect a decision on the case from the attorney general. But if prosecutors decide the officers should not face charges in the shooting, he said he does not expect the kind of civil unrest that has broken out in other communities around the country in the wake of similar incidents to take place in Farmington, despite the fierce condemnation of his department that was expressed in April.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I do believe there could easily be another round of sharp criticism and a loss of confidence in us but nothing close to the violence we’ve seen in other communities.”

Hebbe acknowledged the events of May 15 — and his department’s response that day — may have had a redemptive effect on public opinion and helped repair some of the damage that was done by the Dotson shooting.

“I thought we really did do a good job and show well despite how tragic it was to us as a community,” he said.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 ormeasterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.