Police chief gets ax
Stanely learns of firing while he is on vacation

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Rumors that City Hall's new bosses had just fired Police Chief Sylvester Stanley have been popping up for weeks. Today, they turned out to be true.

Stanley, contacted by cell phone, said he got the news from new City Manager Gerald Herrera this morning. Herrera did not return The Independent's message for comment at 11 a.m. Mayor Harry Mendoza referred all questions to Herrera.

Stanley, who was on vacation, said he'd come to town for an unrelated appointment and decided to stop by Herrera's office to check up on the rumors, which he'd also hears.

"I went in to find out if it was true," Stanley recounted, "and he said, 'I would like to have you out by the end of the day.'"

As for an explanation, Stanley said Herrera mentioned the local police union's recent vote of no confidence in the way the chief had been running the department. Stanley said he thought the department was doing well.

"I thought we did a pretty good job in the last 3 1/2 years," he said.

Since launching his campaign earlier this year, however, Mendoza has been saying that the department ought to put more cops on the street. More recently, he's been referring to a newspaper article identifying Gallup has having the highest rate of "serious crime" in the state. Stanley disputed the veracity of that distinction.

Although he and the mayor have met, Stanley said he felt as though he never had a chance to explain to Mendoza precisely what state the police department was in and that the mayor may have harbored some false impressions.

Even so, Stanley believes his termination had been in the works for some time. Herrera gave him his marching orders at 8:30. Stanley said he soon found out that Herrera had named Deputy Chief Robert Cron his acting replacement half an hour earlier.

Stanley said he had no specific futures plans though he'd been weighing his options for some time.

For now, the former Gallup police chief said we would enjoy the rest of his vacation.

"I guess I'll go fishing for a few days," he said.

Since taking office, the new City Council has fired the city manager, city clerk and economic development director. The city attorney and administrative services director have resigned.