Albuquerque lawmaker pushes bill overhauling rules for police misconduct investigations
State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas is asking the Governor’s Office to support legislation during the upcoming special session that would strike language automatically inserted into police contracts dealing with investigations into police misconduct.
State law requires certain parameters when it comes to probing into police misconduct cases. Maestas, an Albuquerque Democrat and former Bernalillo County assistant district attorney, argues the law shields New Mexico police from accountability as a matter of routine procedure.
Maestas’ bill tweaks the parameters around such investigations and erases “all of the anti-accountability measures in state law,” he said.
“This doesn’t deplete the power of police unions. They can still use political clout and influence. But language in police contracts and particular state contracts shouldn’t hide complaints against police offers and it shouldn’t shield employee misconduct,” Maestas said.
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