Sonya K. Chavez

DPS News:

• • • • • Retired marshal and FBI special agent assumes helm in October

SANTA FE – Respected law enforcement official Sonya K. Chavez has been appointed to serve as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy Director.

Chavez announced her retirement from federal service after a 27-year career as a Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent, and for the past five years as the United States Marshal for the District of New Mexico. She will start her new role Oct. 28, 2023.

“Sonya Chavez has been an amazing law enforcement partner while serving as the New Mexico U.S. Marshal and during her tenure at the FBI. In addition to her credibility, she brings a tremendous amount of experience to this critical position and to DPS,” Department of Public Safety Secretary (DPS) Jason R. Bowie said. “I look forward to working with her as we continue to advance law enforcement through our basic and advanced training programs.”

Secretary Bowie acknowledge and thanked DPS Deputy Cabinet Secretary Benjamin A. Baker who has served as the interim academy director since March 2022.

“Secretary Baker has worked tirelessly to enhance the daily operations of the academy, to hold law enforcement and telecommunicators accountable, and to improve the credibility of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. We have made tremendous progress under his leadership,” Bowie said.

The New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy provides basic, advanced, and in-service law enforcement training and certification of law enforcement officers and dispatchers from municipal, county, tribal and state law enforcement agencies. As defined by law, the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety appoints the director of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.

“I feel so fortunate to be going from one amazing agency to another. I am excited to be able to finish my law enforcement career working directly for the state I grew up in and love so much,”  Chavez said.

“My time at the Marshals Service has been a highlight in my career and was the most honorable opportunity I could have ever experienced,” she added. “The last five years have only added to the amazing commitment to service and tradition I experienced at the FBI.”

Under Chavez’s leadership, the Marshals Service in New Mexico led multiple statewide operations that focused on the most violent felons in the state. During her tenure, the U. S. Marshals Service has arrested more than 7,500 dangerous offenders in New Mexico since Chavez was sworn in as U. S. Marshal in April 2018.

Chavez also reinforced existing inter-agency cooperation and forged new relationships. These efforts permitted an efficient pooling of law enforcement resources to address the endemic violent crime that affects our communities. Chavez also brought increased resources focusing on the protection of federal judges and courthouses in New Mexico and managed the care of as many as 3,000 federal detainees.

Chavez was nominated to serve as the first woman to act as New Mexico’s U. S. Marshal by former senior U.S.  Sen. Tom Udall. She was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full United States Senate and appointed by former President Donald J. Trump. 

Prior to joining the United States Marshals Service, Chavez spent 22 years as an FBI Special Agent, where she worked combatting violent street gangs in Chicago and New Mexico and spent much of her time in the FBI focusing on border crimes along the Southwest border.

Chavez was appointed earlier this year by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to serve on the Governor’s Organized Crime Commission.

Prior to her law enforcement career, she was a television news reporter at CBS and NBC news affiliates in Texas and worked as press aide and spokeswoman for former Governor Bruce King.

A native of Torrance County and a graduate of Moriarty High School, Chavez is a graduate of New Mexico State University, having earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and Master of Public Administration degree from the University of New Mexico.