A former State Police 911 dispatcher is wanted by police in California for fraudulently wearing a police badge and two other misdemeanors, according to the Sonoma County, Calif. District Attorney’s office.
Santa Rosa (Calif.) Police have an outstanding warrant for Micahel Tafoya, 21, who left New Mexico State Police dispatch July 30. State Police Capt. Daniel Lovato would not confirm that Tafoya had been fired, but referred to him as “separated from the Department” while describing two other dispatchers as having resigned over the past nine months. Tafoya had worked at the District 7 office, which is based in Española and covers Rio Arriba County.
Tafoya had been interviewed by Santa Rosa Police April 23 in Santa Rosa, Calif., after they were called to the Santa Rosa Plaza Mall to investigate a man with a gun, according to Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat. Tafoya wasn’t arrested, but a report on impersonating an officer and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place was referred to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office for review, Banayat said. Banayat refused to release more information on the incident at that time.
About six weeks later, on June 10, a warrant for Tafoya’s arrest was issued on misdemeanor charges of fraudulently wearing a police officer badge, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm in a public place and willfully obstructing, interfering or delaying a police investigation, Sonoma County District Attorney’s office staff said. Tafoya faces up to three years in jail and a fine of up to $4,000 if he is convicted on all of the charges, according to the California penal code.
Tafoya has yet to surrender to California authorities, according to the District Attorney’s office. However, the warrant is for statewide extradition only, according to the office.
No reports have been made of stolen badges at the District 7 State Police office where Tafoya was working, though Lovato said they go missing from time to time.
Tafoya transferred to District 7 in April 2008 and previously worked at Santa Fe State Police dispatch. Between 2006 and 2007 he worked at Española/Rio Arriba 911 center before resigning.
Tafoya could not be reached for comment.
Short Staffed
State Police’s 911 dispatch in Española is down three employees with Tafoya’s departure. State Police had never filled vacancies left when Orlando Cordova resigned July 1 to work as a Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy, and Truett Collins resigned in late 2008 to work as a dispatcher for the Red River Fire Marshal’s office, according to Lovato.
Consequently, only one dispatcher is available to answer 911 calls most of the time at the District 7 office, Lovato said. By contrast, the Española/Rio Arriba 911 Center, which handles about five times as many calls per day as its State Police counterpart, has three dispatchers working at any given time.
Since a hiring freeze was implemented in November 2008, State Police can hire officers but no dispatchers, Lovato said, which is why the three dispatchers haven’t been replaced.