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Saturday, April 1, 2006 Sgt. Roy retires after career devoted to helping kidsBelen The Belen Police Department is losing one of its more experienced officers this month as Sgt. Roy Gonzales retires after almost 20 years with the force. Known throughout the community as simply Sgt. Roy, Gonzales will turn in his badge on April 5 and retire from a career that was once a childhood dream. Along with leaving the police department, Gonzales will also be saying good-bye to Belen when he packs his bags — minus his uniform — and moves to Arizona.
During his last few months in the Navy, Gonzales first thought about joining his hometown department in Albuquerque. But when his father saw that Belen was hiring police officers in the paper, he decided to apply. "I remember I came in and applied in August, but I was still in the military," he said. "I got out in November and got hired right after that." Gonzales, along with another seven or eight rookie officers, joined the force in 1986. Of those, Gonzales is the only one left. In fact, Gonzales may be the only officer in Belen's history to have started and to have retired from the police department. "I knew I wanted to be a police officer when I was a little kid," Gonzales said. "I knew I wanted to be a cop way back when. After I got out of the Navy, I fulfilled that dream." Growing up in a neighborhood where drugs were easily available, Gonzales knew how it affected the community and wanted to make a difference — especially in the lives of children. Throughout his law enforcement career, Gonzales has made it a point to help those in need and has focused much of his attention on youth. As the department's DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer for about seven years, Gonzales became a familiar face in the elementary schools. Along with teaching children the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence, Gonzales became their friend. He said he wanted to teach them more than "say no to drugs." He taught them about life. "I tried to incorporate the everyday living activities that happen here in Belen instead of just reading from a book," Gonzales said. "It made it more interesting for the kids and there was all of that student participation. It was great." When the program ended, Gonzales became the school resource officer at the high school where he was known as the "walking, talking encyclopedia." "The principal gave me that name because I knew all the kids and everything about them," he said. "When one of the students got in trouble, he would call me in and ask me to give him the breakdown on the kid. "I tried to help out the kids as much as possible," Gonzales said. His passion for helping kids and his love of sports also gave Gonzales an outlet in which to combine the two. For the past several years, he has donated his off-time to coach junior varsity softball in both Belen and Los Lunas. He now umpires throughout Valencia County as well as in Albuquerque. "After I retire, I'm going to stick around until the end of the season," Gonzales said. "I'm going to be moving to Arizona at the end of May to be closer to my kids. I think it's time to spend time with them and my one grandchild." After 20 years of serving the public, Gonzales said he'll miss Belen, he'll miss the children and he'll miss his fellow officers. "I'm going to miss putting on the uniform everyday," he said. "It's going to be kind of strange because, every morning, I get up and put on my uniform. Now, I'm going to put on civilian clothes." When asked what it means to be a police officer, Gonzales said that a cop isn't someone who is out there just looking for someone to arrest. He's learned to become a friend, a mentor and somebody to look to in times of need. "One of the best pieces of advice I have for new officers is treat people the way you want to be treated — that's made my job a little easier," he said. "We have to be fair and try not to take things so personally." With 20 years on the force, there are many memories Gonzales looks back to with fondness. One of the most humorous was when he was a rookie cop responding to an alarm call at a local optometrist's office. Not knowing that this particular doctor was a big game hunter and his prize catches were displayed in the office, Gonzales walked into the lobby with his flashlight in one hand and his gun drawn in the other. "I was walking against the wall, making sure the building was clear, and I stopped," he remembered. "I saw my sergeant pointing up in the air. I jumped up and yelled 'Freeze!' I looked and there was this huge grizzly bear. "It scared me — I wasn't expecting a bear there," he said. "I ran outside and these guys (his fellow officers) were just laughing and laughing. They were just breaking me in." While there were plenty of laughs to go around, Gonzales said there were also a lot of instances that touched his heart. He recalls one day he was called out to a local grocery store for a shoplifter. "When we got there, they had this kid who had taken a couple of bags of candy," Gonzales said. "Well, what had happened was it was his turn to take a treat to class, but he didn't have any money. This kid was there crying that it was his turn to share with the class but he couldn't afford to buy anything. "So what we did was we went ahead and purchased the candy for him so he wouldn't look bad in school," he said. "He was really grateful to us and I still see him now that he's grown up. He'll come up to me, shake my hand and tells me he still remembers what happened that day." Gonzales is also well known for his years of work at Wal-Mart, where he's worked in every department except the deli and the pharmacy. Gonzales is satisfied that he's made a difference in the community and leaves the department knowing that he's done his best. He said he'll never forget Belen and its people and promises to come back and visit.
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