By Martha Vera
Meet Minerva Torres Shelton, Candidate for Sheriff for the County of El Paso, who will make history as the First Woman Sheriff of El Paso County. Minerva’s experience in law enforcement is both distinguished and unmatched when compared to the other candidates. We met with her to discuss her decision to run for Sheriff.
Coming from humble beginnings, Minerva’s life work is summed up in one word, JUSTICE. She was born in Oxnard, California. Both of her parents were farm workers and after they completed their work there, they moved back to Mexico where she lived a very happy childhood until her father became ill and had to go back to the United States to receive a much-needed open heart surgery. He learned a trade and soon began to work for a television repair shop. He was offered a better job with a large company. He gave his notice, and the boss told him that he had to pay him back monies that her father owed him. Her father had always paid him back in cash. The boss’s response was that he didn’t have any receipts to prove that he had ever paid him back. The case went to court and her father lost. Minerva’s comment to this event was, “It stirred up something in my heart. I thought how unfair it was to have him found guilty even though he had paid the man back. It became my mission to make sure that this wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”
She joined the United States Army after graduating from high school. After her military career, she moved to El Paso, Texas where she joined the El Paso Police Department where she worked as a patrol officer downtown for five years. After the 9/11 attacks, she joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, where she retired after 21 years of service, working in both criminal matters and counter-terrorism. Her experience makes her well versed in local, state, and federal cases.
While stationed in Sacramento, California as an FBI agent, she noticed that there was a high number of young girls that were trafficked. She also noted that there was a link between missing persons and prostitution. She noticed that the authorities were just putting a band-aide over the problem, and it was not being resolved. As a result, she created a task force to address the problem of juvenile sex trafficking. She was recruited to take over the Crimes Against Children and human trafficking program. She began working with the Sacramento Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department, non-profit organizations, and churches, creating a task force that became very successful and included the creation of a place to rehabilitate the trafficked victims.
Over the years, she noticed a different pattern where there has been a growing distance between law enforcement and the community it serves. She began going to the smaller communities where the FBI would normally not go. Her passion is to inspire young people to go into public service, especially law enforcement. She believes the youth sometimes get inspired by someone that looks and talks like them.
Her plans as Sheriff of the County of El Paso includes meeting with communities four times per year. “I want you to know what crimes are being seen out there, where your money is going, and how it is being used for the community. The Sheriff should be accountable to the people because he/she is selected by the people. The Sheriff should work closely with the FBI and other law enforcement organizations such as Border Patrol and El Paso Police Department. My strength is my experience in state and federal cases that work with bigger networks. Having investigative experience and extensive collaboration with other agencies allows you to see the bigger picture, “ she said.