ACLU of New Mexico files lawsuit on behalf of Albuquerque woman who was sexually assaulted by her parole officer

 
 
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a civil rights lawsuit against the New Mexico Corrections Department and Gordon Chavez, a former probation and parole officer who sexually assaulted a woman under his supervised release. Chavez pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation against parolee Susie Zapata and was sentenced in federal court this week to serve 18 months in prison for his crimes.

“The public entrusts parole officers with the very important task of helping people rehabilitate and reintegrate back into society after incarceration,” said ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives. “Former officer Chavez betrayed our client and the public trust by using his position of tremendous power and authority to abuse and humiliate a person he was supposed to be helping. We cannot tolerate this kind of misconduct by law enforcement officers.”

Chavez began sexually harassing her with inappropriate questions and comments soon after he began supervising her. Chavez’s conduct steadily progressed in its severity, culminating with explicit groping and sexual assault of Ms. Zapata, who feared that if she did not comply she would lose her probation and parole.

The FBI became involved after Zapata decided to come forward, and federal agents helped Zapata record Chavez admitting to the assault in a subsequent meeting. After the admission, agents arrested Chavez.

The lawsuit filed by the ACLU of New Mexico on Zapata’s behalf, alleges that former officer Chavez violated Zapata’s constitutional rights and alleges negligence on the part of the New Mexico Corrections Department for their failure to provide adequate information and resources for probationers to report parole officer misconduct.

A full copy of the legal complaint can be read here: https://www.aclu-nm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/201403061527.pdf

ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives and Cooperating Attorney Nicole Moss represent the plaintiff in this lawsuit.
 

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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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Deaths and Injuries in CBP encounters from January 2010  to Feb. 19, 2014 (including off-duty incidents and when CBP was acting as backup)