New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy Director Sonya Chavez has resigned from her position after serving for less than two years, state Department of Public Safety officials confirmed Monday afternoon.
Chavez, appointed in October 2023, was also serving as interim director of the Law Enforcement Certification Board in the wake of the board’s firing last month of the previous executive. She will serve in both roles until the end of the month.
She wrote in a short letter to the governor she was “sadly resigning” from her position. The April 16 letter, provided to The New Mexican by Department of Public Safety spokesperson Herman Lovato, offered no reason for her departure, which continued a shakeup in the two state agencies dedicated to police training and officer oversight.
“Thank you for the opportunity to serve our wonderful state and the amazing police officers and their leadership in this capacity,” Chavez wrote in the letter. “I wish you and all of New Mexico’s public servants only the best in continuing to address the critical mission of keeping our citizens safe and protected.”
Her resignation comes after a monthslong, public rift between former Law Enforcement Certification Board CEO Joshua Calder and Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie ended in Calder’s firing by a March 20 vote of the appointed board. In the preceding months, Calder had opened a misconduct investigation into Bowie and told board members during a public meeting department officials had attempted to interfere with the board’s staff members as they investigated misconduct allegations.
Bowie, meanwhile, accused Calder of lying about retaliatory actions he had alleged Bowie had taken against him.
Chavez said in a phone interview Monday her departure is unrelated to Calder’s, saying, “I did have some concerns that this would be seen as related to Josh’s departure, and it’s not.”
She said she is sad to be leaving the academy and its “beautiful mission.”
“I’m really proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish,” she said. “I’ve just decided that it’s best for me to step back right now.”
Chavez expressed pride in some of her accomplishments during her time with the academy, which was marked by a legislative shift in the state’s approach to handling police training and misconduct.
“DPS is filled with wonderful, committed public servants with a huge, impactful mission, and I was happy to be a part of that and believe in what we’re doing up there,” she said.
A bill passed by the state Legislature in 2023 bifurcated the former Law Enforcement Academy Board into two bodies: the Law Enforcement Certification Board, which handles claims of police and dispatcher misconduct, and the Standards and Training Council, which was appointed to review and update policing standards and training statewide.
In her role, Chavez served as chair of the Standards and Training Council in addition to running the state police academy in Santa Fe and providing “support and oversight” to the nine satellite police academies in New Mexico, according to the department’s website.
Her office embarked on the creation of a new curriculum for basic police training, which she said is currently being developed by a contractor. She noted a partnership with Central New Mexico Community College to revamp the academy’s legal curriculum, adding, “we’ve worked really hard to navigate through the implementation of a state Standards and Training Council.”
Prior to becoming the director of the Law Enforcement Academy, Chavez was the first woman to serve as U.S. marshal in New Mexico from 2018 to 2023. Before that, she was a special agent for the FBI for more than two decades.
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