New data tool allows journalists and the public to track ‘wandering cops’ in New Mexico • Source New Mexico

A new database launching today gives the public, journalists and policymakers greater insight into police officers in New Mexico who lose their jobs with one agency, sometimes for serious misconduct, and then find work at another.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety in July 2024 launched its own disciplinary database lookup tool, but it only covers officers who have been sanctioned by the state.

The National Police Index complements that database, and provides more data.

A coalition of journalistic, legal and human rights organizations led by Chicago-based nonprofit Invisible Institute created the database, using officer employment history records from 26 states, including New Mexico.

The NPI’s data on New Mexico cops go back as far as the 1960s, according to information released by Invisible Institute Director of Technology Maheen Khan.

The data include 5,185 currently active officers in New Mexico. Of those, 811 have had more than three employers, 150 have had more than five employers and 252 were previously terminated, Khan said in a statement.

The number of previously terminated officers is only as accurate as local police departments reports turned into DPS, so it’s almost certainly an undercount, according to Khan.

The first systematic investigation of “wandering officers” was published in 2020. Since then, New Mexico lawmakers and law enforcement officials have twice called for DPS to “track” problem officers.

While the NPI does not contain reports of misconduct, it does track officers over their careers and shows the reported reasons for their separation from an agency.

New Mexico’s database followed the creation of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Certification Board in 2023, which oversees the agency responsible for investigating police misconduct, called the Law Enforcement Certification Office.

The LECB replaced an agency heavily criticized for allowing officers to jump around to different jobs with little transparency.

New Mexico’s decertification process relies on local agencies fully and adequately investigating and reporting misconduct up to the LECB.

But journalists from around the state have shown this is often not the case, and a court ruling three years ago blocked public and press access to even more misconduct records.

If a case reaches the LECB, then its members can control whether an officer can hop to another department, said Bobbie Green, the longest-serving citizen-at-large on the board.

Green, who is also president of the Doña Ana County NAACP and second vice president of the New Mexico NAACP, said as a person of color, she tries to limit her interactions with police.

“Most of my family members — most Black people that I know — we are afraid of interactions with the police for obvious reasons. So from that perspective, I’m happy that there is going to be such a database,” she said.

However, Green said it’s difficult because while the public is at risk, officers also have rights, as well. The LECB must follow the rules and regulations, or risk being taken to court. They can’t act on a case that doesn’t get in front of them, she said.

“If the case never reaches us, that is, in my opinion, the loophole,” she said. “If they retire or leave before we get the case, then there’s nothing we can do about officers hopping from one place to another.”

Joshua Calder, the LECB’s first-ever CEO, said in an interview that officers who resign in lieu of termination could be trying to escape accountability; however, state regulation is clear that’s not a way to circumvent the misconduct reporting process. Since Source’s interview with Calder for this story, an email documenting his concerns about the LECB’s independence became public.

“I know that in reality, that may not be the case, and certain administrators may be leveraging — ‘Hey, we won’t file,’ or something — but they’re still required to provide that information to us if it violates New Mexico administrative code or statute,” Calder said.

Daniel Williams, a policing policy advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which helped craft the legislation that led to the LECB’s creation, said in an interview the ACLU advocated for a much more expansive state database when the legislation was up for debate.

“Having this database is better than nothing by a long shot,” Williams said. “This is one of the conversations we look forward to continuing to have with lawmakers about the need for transparency, in terms of law enforcement misconduct.”

All New Mexicans want to live in safe communities, and most see police as part of that, Williams said.

“They want to be able to trust in the cops who are going to pull them over when they’ve done something wrong, or going to come help them when something has been done to them,” he said. “Transparency is an essential part of that. We think everyone, including law enforcement, acknowledges that that trust has really broken down over the years.”