New online police misconduct database provides public window
Jul. 3—An online database of police misconduct cases in New Mexico went live this week, giving the public a window into which police officers have been accused of misconduct statewide.
State officials say the database is not yet complete and they plan to make improvements to it, but it represents a step forward in a broader aim for more accountability and transparency in policing in the state.
"It's a very assertive step forward to assure that not only the public but also that our police agencies have access to that database," Law Enforcement Academy interim Director Sonya Chavez said in an interview Wednesday. "We worked hard to get the bare bones up online, but we anticipate a lot more development going into this database."
The online platform went live Monday on the Department of Public Safety website at tinyurl.com/mudmucyz.
It contains entries for every misconduct case adjudicated by the current Law Enforcement Certification Board — and by its former iteration, the Law Enforcement Academy Board — from 2022 to 2024.
The board's staff — which Chavez said is still in the process of being built up — has adopted misconduct files from the state Law Enforcement Academy "that date back decades," she said, in a larger database called Acadis.
Developers of the public, online database are "taking steps to address historical cases," she said, but the agency could not provide a timeline Wednesday for when older cases would be added.
The online database comes from legislation passed in 2023 aiming to strengthen the processes for police training and accountability in the Department of Public Safety.
Senate Bill 19, which passed both chambers of the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, separated the state Law Enforcement Academy Board into two bodies — the Law Enforcement Certification Board and the Standards and Training Council. The law specified different types of people who must be appointed to the certification board and it also required the board to create an online database of police and telecommunicator misconduct cases by July 1, 2024.
"The board shall employ a web-based technology solution that will enable any member of the public to search for outcomes of misconduct investigations that result in dismissal, denial, suspension or revocation of a police officer's or public safety telecommunicator's certification," the law says.
The database, accessible through the state Department of Public Safety's website, allows users to search for police misconduct cases by either an officer's last name or by an internal case number.
Cases will only be added to the database after they have received a final decision by the board. In recent months, the board has issued final decisions in some cases from 2022 and 2023.
Search results show the officer's name as well as the result of the case — whether there was a dismissal of the case or a suspension or revocation of the officer's certification. Under a section called "offense description," there is a reference to the state law the officer is alleged to have violated but no description of any specific allegations against the officer.
Different cases refers to allegations such as "committing acts which indicate a lack of good moral character, or which constitute dishonesty or fraud," or "committing acts of violence or brutality which indicate that the officer has abused the authority granted to him or her as a commissioned police officer in the state of New Mexico."
Chavez said the department's information technology staff presented a mock-up of the database to board members in recent months for input and came back with the product that is now online.
Other changes could be in store, such as allowing users to perform a search of cases within each law enforcement agency. DPS said in a statement Wednesday, "Efforts are being placed on making the reporting agency a searchable field."
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza — a member of the certification board — said he and other board members weighed in on how information would be presented on the database and he was pleased to see the finished product available for the public.
Mendoza said the sheriff's office's hiring process involves a check with the state Law Enforcement Academy for information on pending or past misconduct cases, but he said the online database could be a useful tool for law enforcement agencies to use in hiring.
"We wanted to get at least the basics of what each violation is into those entries," Mendoza said. "I think it's a starting point."
