Belen Police Chief Jose Natividad plans for the future

BELEN—The search for a new police chief in Belen didn’t take long, and city leadership didn’t have to look very far.

Jose Natividad, the city of Belen’s new police chief, was sworn into office last month after former chief James Harris resigned to take a similar position in Alaska.

During the same meeting when Harris formally resigned, Belen Mayor Robert Noblin nominated Natividad, who was deputy chief at the time, to the Hub City’s top cop position, and the council unanimously confirmed the appointment.

For Natividad, the promotion was a bit of a surprise, although he had known about Harris’ plans for a while. The new chief said he is grateful for the mayor and council’s confidence in him, and promises to work hard for the citizens of Belen.

“I’m excited, yet a little nervous — it’s a good scared, not a bad scared,” said Natividad about the new position.

Noblin said Natividad’s “17 extensive years of experience and unwavering dedication” to the Belen Police Department made him the ideal choice.

“I am confident that under his leadership, the Belen Police Department will continue to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and service while addressing the unique needs of our city,” Noblin said of the new police chief. ““Please join me in congratulating Chief Natividad on his new role. Together, we will work towards ensuring the safety and well-being of all our residents.”

Natividad always wanted to be a police officer, but never thought he’d rise to the rank of chief.

“I always figured I’d hit lieutenant and then retire,” Natividad said. “I guess goals are made to be met, but I’ve been able to exceed mine.”

An Albuquerque native, Natividad enlisted in the U.S. Army 11 days after the Sept. 11 attack. He was just a few months out of high school, working at Pizza Hut and decided he wanted to serve and protect his country.

When he left the Army and Reserves after nine and a half years, Natividad was hired as a an officer at Albuquerque Public Schools.

“I graduated from the academy, and a lieutenant with APS told me I was stuck and needed to know what it meant to be a cop and encouraged me to leave,” he remembers. “He said leave being a school cop to the old retired guys.”

While the folks at Albuquerque Police Department wanted Natividad to go through their academy, he decided to pursue another option — the Belen Police Department.

“As a kid, I always wanted to be a cop,” Natividad said. “Growing up in the San Jose/South Broadway neighborhood in Albuquerque, we saw cops all the time and not always for good reasons,” he said. “It was dangerous. There were drugs, there were gangs, there were shootings but, every now and then, there were cops who would stop and play catch with us, give us candy and just show us they were human.”

That’s when Natividad realized police officers do make a difference and it’s what he wanted to do.

“Playing Little League baseball, if I didn’t get good grades, my dad didn’t let me play. Those were his rules,” Natividad said. “So growing up, playing club baseball and in high school, grades were a demand.

“I was brought up by two, good Mexican national parents,” Natividad said. “I was the first one from my family to join the military and the first one to join law enforcement.”

When Natividad first joined the BPD, he was excited to learn the ropes, learn how to be a cop and learn the streets. He remembers it was exactly what he thought it would be.

“Runnin’ and gunnin’ — catching people breaking the law, doing drugs, DWIs, you name it,” Natividad said. “Just because it’s a small town, we still have all the crime that Albuquerque does. It’s always been busy. We’re in a drug thoroughfare.”

A few months after joining the BPD, Natividad was activated through the Reserves with the 530th MP Battalion. While in training before heading to Iraq, he tore his shoulder, and was gone on medical leave for 18 months.

When he returned, he resumed his job like he never left and was shortly promoted to patrol sergeant. He said through the years, he had thought about leaving, wanting to serve at home with APD.

“But within those initial years here and up until today, the city of Belen has been very good to me,” Natividad said. “Why try to fix something that’s not broken? My career has been good here. They’ve been loyal to me, so I want to be loyal back.”

Natividad was promoted to lieutenant in January 2020 and, in 2022, Harris created a deputy chief position, which he applied for and got.

While the new chief is fully aware of the struggles of retaining officers and recruiting new ones, he hopes his story will show others that working for a small department can be a fulfilling career.

“We know home-grown kids might not be as enticed by these larger departments because they know the area and want to help,” he said.

Natividad said when Harris became chief in 2019, they became fast friends and suspects his former boss was preparing him to one day take the lead.

“I knew that he was seeking employment elsewhere, preferably in Alaska,” he said. “I told him many times I was being selfish not wanting him to leave.

“He, over time, allowed the command staff to help run the department, and that’s what lead us to where we are now,” the new chief said. “That’s what I want to do now — prepare the younger officers with leadership training that will set them up for success.”

At 40 years old, Natividad says he is proud to serve as chief, and praises the men and women of the Belen Police Department.

“We have a great staff,” he said. “We were able to hire a recruiting and training officer who is handling our accreditation.

“Lt. (Adam) Keck is such an important asset to this department,” the chief said. “He’s been here for many years and he’s the longest tenured guy here other than myself. Him and I have a great relationship working together.”

Natividad said surrounding himself with a good team will make the department successful and, in turn, make the city of Belen safe.

“This is not my department; it’s our department,” he said. “There’s been a lot of chiefs here over the past several years, and what we need is someone invested here.”

The goals Natividad has includes working toward accreditation, which he expects to happen when they move into the new police station sometime next year.

Being able to retain officers is another goal, and the chief said with the specialized divisions — regional SWAT, three school resource officers, patrol, criminal investigations and traffic — officers will have different opportunities they might not get in other small departments.

With only two positions vacant, Natividad said one of the challenges departments all over the state and country are facing is recruiting new officers. He said there have only been a couple of times in his career at the BPD that they were fully staffed.

“What we need to do is make sure we treat our officers good and take care of them to where they take care of us and want to be here,” Natividad said. “I would like to be a small agency training powerhouse to assist other agencies and keep networks open.”

While Natividad lives in Albuquerque, he calls the Hub City “his community,” and encourages all his officers to become involved in the community outside law enforcement. For many years, he has coached youth baseball and is now an umpire for youth and high school ball.

“When we do this, we show the youth, the community, we’re here for them in good times and bad,” he said. “We’re here for Belen. We’re here for the residents, for the businesses. We’re here to make it better.”