ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed an Inspection of Public Records Request (IPRA) with the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy (NMLEA) seeking the training standards and lesson plans used to train officers. This records request comes after the academy director publicly vowed to “burn” any training materials before releasing them to the public.
“Officer training materials are public records and the academy has a legal obligation to release this information,” said ACLU of New Mexico Peter Simonson. “The rash of officer involved shootings in our state has left many New Mexicans calling for more accountability and oversight of law enforcement. Attempting to conceal public records from concerned citizens only damages trust and does nothing to make the public safer.”
Concerns about the NMLEA training standards arose after the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that NMLEA director Jack Jones had instituted a curriculum that puts less restraint on officers in deciding when to use deadly force. This training curriculum is now truncated from 22 to 16 weeks and includes questionable use of force training such as live-fire vehicle stops.
The records requested pursuant to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act include:
The approved training standards and lesson plans of the New Mexico law enforcement academy for the 16-week base curriculum approved by the NMLEA board during the December 2013 board meeting, including any and all diagrams, explanations, charts, images, revisions and updates, notes to agencies adding to the 16-week course, and any policies, procedures and regulations that accompany the 16-week program.
Under New Mexico IPRA, the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy has 15 business days to produce the requested records.
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