State police chief to exit in late June
Governor appoints deputy chief to succeed Johnson, who is retiring after 4 years
After four years of heading New Mexico State Police — and following a month of spectacularly violent but unrelated shooting incidents — Chief Tim Johnson is retiring in late June, the Governor’s Office announced Tuesday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday she had appointed Johnson’s successor — W. Troy Weisler, who serves as the department’s deputy chief for strategic development, special projects, communications and recruiting.
Weisler will head the 700-officer agency after Johnson departs June 24.
The news came just days after a shooting in Red River that left three dead and five wounded during a motorcycle rally, a confrontation Johnson said was the result of a fight between two rival motorcycle gangs — the Bandidos and the Waterdogs. Also this month, three Farmington women were killed when a teen began firing at homes and people on a street of the Northwest New Mexico city.
In the Red River incident, state police arrested Jacob Castillo, 30, of Rio Rancho. He faces an open charge of murder in the shootings. Johnson identified Castillo, who was wounded in the confrontation, as a member of the Waterdogs, a New Mexico motorcycle gang.
Neither Johnson, who served in the state police for 23 years, nor Weisler were available for an interview Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the governor wrote in an email.
In the news release announcing the change in leadership, the governor said, Weisler will “focus on building up relationships with local and federal partners to drive down crime and make New Mexico safer. He is dedicated to creating a state police force which reflects the communities it protects by developing and implementing innovative ways to increase diversity within the department.”
Weisler started with the state police as a patrol officer in Deming and Moriarty in 2002. He later worked in various capacities in investigation, research and narcotics in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He has served as the deputy chief since 2021.
“Society is changing; technology is rapidly evolving, and the need for public safety and honorable men and women to serve has never been greater,”
Weisler said in the news release. “State Police now has access to unprecedented resources, and I am looking forward to quickly deploying them to address the most pressing needs of law enforcement and the people of New Mexico.”
Johnson praised Weisler’s “dependability, calm disposition and laser focus on the task at hand,” in the news release, adding, his successor “is perfectly suited to take command.”
Johnson was appointed by Lujan Grisham to head state police in April 2019, shortly after she took office in her first term.
In a November 2019 interview with The New Mexican, Johnson said he would focus on initiating a series of technological upgrades and filing officer vacancies.
Per state law, the chief has to be a commissioned state police officer for 10 continuous years prior to the appointment and serve at least three years in a supervisory role.
The job pays $158,000 a year, Sweeney wrote in an email.