Police stand at a corner of the plaza while protesters march past. | Leah Cantor
Santa Fe Police Chief Andrew Padilla and Deputy Chief Ben Valdez issued Tuesday a more detailed response to the "8 Can't Wait" initiative and calls to review the department policies.
We've posted the entire response below, including its quoting of recommendations from former HUD secretary and presidential candidate Julian Castro's "People First Policing" outline to end over-aggressive policing and combat racially discriminatory policing; increase transparency, and "mend the relationship between community members and law enforcement." SFR italicized the language from Castro:
In establishing national standards for the conduct of police officers and local departments that receive federal funding, we ensure that every police department in the United States establishes minimum standards for how their officers interact with community members. Those standards include combatting racially discriminatory policing that leads to the disproportionately high number of black men who are killed by police.
Restrict the use of deadly force unless there is an imminent threat to the life of another person, and all other reasonable alternatives have been exhausted. Require the use of de-escalation procedures and alternatives to deadly force whenever possible.
SFPD's Use of Force policy directs personnel to use the minimum amount of force necessary to achieve lawful objectives.
Officers' response is based on the resistance exhibited by the subject they are attempting to arrest or whose deadly behavior they are attempting to stop. To the greatest extent possible and as much as is feasible, before deploying a particular force option officers should evaluate the options available and use the option that would cause the least amount of injury to the subject while achieving the arrest or lawful objectives. To determine if the force that was used by an officer was reasonable, the Department and the Courts evaluate the following factors:
· The severity of the crime at issue.
· Whether the suspect poses an imminent threat to the safety of the officers or others.
· Whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.
The policy also directs officers to gather information about the incident, assess the risks, assemble resources, attempt to slow momentum, and communicate and coordinate a response. Here again, the proviso is that these tasks should be done when reasonable under the totality of the circumstances and where they may be accomplished without increasing the risk of harm to the officers or others.
Officers should look for opportunities to de-escalate the situation to the greatest extent possible. Again, the proviso is that they must be able to do so safely.
SFPD's Use of Force standard is derived from the Constitutional Standard of Graham v. Conner, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) and Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). This standard is used by the Courts to examine whether a use of force is constitutional/justifiable.
This model recognizes that law enforcement officers shall only use force "when there is an imminent threat to the life of another person."
The SFPD utilizes the theory of a "Force Array" which requires an officer to use the lowest level of force in proportion to the resistance of the individual involved in the incident.
The theory of exhausting all other reasonable alternatives is consistent with a "use of force continuum" which requires a law enforcement officer to complete all force options before employing deadly force, assuming that the officer will exhaust all other means as long as they can be reasonably used without endangering the safety of the public or the officer. The continuum includes:
1. verbal commands
2. tactical positioning
3. creating distance (moving away) from threat
4. open hand techniques
5. show of force (less lethal)
6. use of chemical spray
7. use of impact munitions or Taser
8. show of force (deadly force)
9. use of deadly force
Adopt technological and organizational approaches, such as the use of body cameras, to support responsible policing practices and ensure accountability of officer conduct. Employ best practices for the use of technological advances to guarantee the privacy of civilians.
The SFPD employs the use of body-worn and vehicle-mounted cameras. A policy is in place which directs when the devices shall be utilized and when they are not to be used or are to be redacted to protect the privacy of the public in certain private situations. The technology is utilized to address observed misconduct or violations of policy as well as to protect officers against false complaints.
End the school-to-prison pipeline and reform student discipline practices. Combat unfair, harsh, and unequal disciplinary methods by ensuring that schools receiving federal funding commit to reforms including eliminating the use of police officers as disciplinary agents, implementing positive, evidenced-based disciplinary practices, and requiring unconscious bias training for school personnel. Provide federal grants to promote positive and supporting school climates and reforming disciplinary practices. Provide expanded support and counseling for students and training for teachers and staff.
The SFPD is not involved in administrative sanctions imposed by the public and private schools in our jurisdiction. We encourage and foster an environment of positive interaction between our Department members and our youth through partnerships with the Santa Fe Public Schools.
Establish responsibility and accountability of officers to intervene if they witness a colleague utilizing excessive force or inappropriate conduct.
Generally referred to as the "duty to intervene", the SFPD Use of Force policy directs officers to intervene if they view force that is excessive or unnecessary and immediately to report the incident to a supervisor.
Require police officers to identify themselves, issue a verbal warning, and give the suspect a reasonable amount of time to comply before the use of force.
The SFPD trains our officers to identify themselves as a Police Officer during a potentially deadly force encounter, and when to issue a verbal warning. Again, the only proviso is that the issuing of the verbal warning should not endanger the life of the officer or of any innocent bystander.
Restrict policing actions that cause collateral damage such as shooting at moving vehicles.
Our Use of Force Policy prohibits officers from reaching into or intentionally placing themselves in the path of a vehicle and thereby creating a justification for the use of lethal force. Furthermore, Officers are directed not to discharge a firearm at or from a moving vehicle. There are exceptions to this policy: If an occupant of the vehicle is using deadly force other than the vehicle itself against the officer or another person, and such action is necessary for self-defense, the defense of other officers, or to protect innocent bystanders; or unless the officer has no reasonable alternative course of action.
Where an officer faces the threat of injury from a vehicle being intentionally driven by a subject into the officer or others and no other alternative exists, and a reasonable officer would believe that lethal force would remove the danger the vehicle poses without creating additional risk to bystanders, lethal force may be utilized. The officer must weigh if the use of lethal force creates a danger to the public that outweighs the likely benefit of its use.
Require training of and acknowledgment by all police personnel on the public's right to record interactions between the public and law enforcement.
The SFPD utilizes recording devices and officers are aware that members of the public are permitted to record encounters with law enforcement.
Require law enforcement agencies to obtain written consent for consensual vehicle searches.
New Mexico and SFPD policy recognize that a vehicle is considered an extension of the owner's home and explicit consent must be given by the owner for a warrantless search to occur. The owner is also informed they do not have to provide consent, and if they do provide consent they may withdraw it at any time. The owner must be present during the search and these encounters are recorded with body-worn or in-car camera. Officers are provided consent-to-search forms to document the encounter and to acknowledge that the individual understands their rights and gives consent for the search.
End racial profiling and stop-and-frisk policies. Work with Congress to enact legislation that would prohibit any law enforcement agent or agency to engage in racial profiling or to conduct stops and searches of people with only vague explanations of suspicion.
The SFPD does not have the authorization to stop and frisk anyone who is in a public or private place. There is also no authorization to stop and search someone who is traveling in an area that an officer deems to be a high crime area.
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1(1968) gave officers the right to conduct a limited pat down of a person they lawfully stopped when they have reason to believe that the person is armed and/or presently dangerous.
The Courts will consider the following to determine if the pat down was reasonable:
1. Knowledge of the facts that reasonably lead the officer to believe that the suspect is involved in criminal activity.
2. The officer identified themselves as a Police Officer and made reasonable inquires as to the suspect's conduct.
3. The suspect's response to the officer stopping them and questioning them does not relieve the officer's suspicious.
4. Suggestive movements by the suspect, and visual clues for the presence of weapons. (Bulge in clothing consistent with weapon, adjusting item under or in clothing with hand or body movement, etc.)
These contacts are also covered in our Body Worn Camera Policy as a required recording incident.
Require police departments to demonstrate accountability for all instances of biased policing, including requiring internal reviews and appropriate disciplinary actions, during the time period when federal funds are used.
SFPD has a Bias Profiling and Discriminatory Practices Policy to prevent and prohibit the practice of bias profiling and other discriminatory practices by any member of the Santa Fe Police Department.
The Policy instructs all complaints of bias profiling be accepted from any source or in any manner. Complaints are investigated in accordance with our Internal Affairs procedures. Supervisors are responsible for continually monitoring and examining all members under their supervision to ensure that their subordinate's actions and activities adhere to Department policy and to discover any indications of racial profiling or discriminatory practices.
A copy of bias profiling complaints is required to be submitted to the Attorney General's Office along with the findings of the investigation, without disclosing personal identifying information of the complainant or the employed officer. (The Act directs the Attorney General to publish a list of Departments not in compliance with the Act.)
Require pre-employment screenings to identify prejudices. Ensure local departments are eliminating candidates who display bias, intolerance, or other behaviors or prejudices that may threaten public safety.
The SFPD conducts a thorough pre-employment background investigation for all civilian and police officer positions. The identification of bias, intolerance, or prejudices in a candidate would be grounds for dismissal from the application process.
Build a more representative police force by using federal grants to incentivize police departments to enact residency requirements and other efforts to ensure not only that law enforcement officers live in the communities they protect, but also that police department's look like the communities they serve.
The SFPD reflects our city with a diverse workforce; we employ personnel from varying cultural backgrounds, age, race, sexual orientation, job experience levels, educational backgrounds, religious beliefs, political affiliations.
SFPD recruits and employs civilian and sworn personnel from our city and surrounding communities. Santa Fe has always been a hub city where city residents and residents from surrounding communities rely on goods, services, and employment that is provided in our jurisdiction. Santa Fe is also welcoming of guests from outside of our community who now call Santa Fe home. This is deep rooted in Santa Fe's history
Require accredited implicit bias and other racial equity training for all police personnel.
The SFPD has engaged in and continues to contract for implicit bias and discriminatory training for all officers.
Bias Profiling and Discriminatory Practices Policy directs required training on the harms of bias-based profiling and discrimination, including legal aspects and a review of the Bias Profiling and Discriminatory Practices Policy.
The Department also includes additional training required by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Law Enforcement Academy and those sponsored by SFPD:
· Hate Crimes – Biennium Requirement mandated by DPS
All Sworn Personnel
Conducted each biennium year: 2014/2015, 2016/2017, 2018/2019 and will happen in biennium year 2020/2021
· Interactions with Persons with Mental Impairments – Biennium Requirement mandated by DPS
All Sworn Personnel
Conducted each biennium year: 2014/2015, 2016/2017, 2018/2019-requirement met by Crisis Intervention Training (see below), and will happen in biennium year 2020/2021
· Cultural Competency and Community Equity Training – SFPD Sponsored
Lieutenants and above
Conducted in April 2019
· Beyond Blue and Pink: Transgender Awareness Training – SFPD Sponsored
All Sworn Personnel
Conducted in 2019 for roughly 75% of all sworn personnel, the remainder will be completed in 2020
· Crisis Intervention Training – SFPD Sponsored
All Sworn Personnel – new hires in 2020 will attend class as soon as feasible due to COVID-19 restrictions
Conducted in 2018/2019, and served as the DPS mandated requirement for Interactions with Persons with Mental Impairments for the 2018/2019 biennium schedule.
· Disability Awareness Training – SFPD Sponsored
All Sworn Personnel
Conducted in 2016/2017
· How Being Trauma Informed Improves the Criminal Justice System – SFPD Sponsored
All Sworn Personnel
Conducted in 2016/2017
· The Sikh Coalition: Who are the Sikhs – SFPD Sponsored
The federal government, including the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, will hold accountable law enforcement agencies for use of excessive force. That process starts with transparency and data.
Establish a public national database that tracks all police officers decertified in any state or locality, to ensure full transparency of officers when seeking employment in other states. This effort would build on the success of the National Decertification Index established by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. Incentivize state and local governments to use this national database when hiring officers.
This would best be addressed by the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy (NMLEA) Board which manages the licensures of all Certified Police Officers and Radio Communicators. They would have the necessary documents to submit to a database.
Collect disaggregated data on all detentions, stops, frisks, searches, summons, and arrests, ensuring local, state, and federal lawmakers are equipped with the data needed to inform sustained policing reform. Require that this information be made publicly available in a way that is useful both to governmental and nongovernmental entities. This would build on the successes of the Use of Force Data Collection program.
Some information requested to be reported is available from separate sources, but the compiling of information would be possible for the SFPD. The gathering, sorting, and submitting of data is available for:
- Traffic stops with driver contact
- Person stops (info is available if they agree to provide info if consensual contact.)
- Arrest data
- Summons data
Make it easier to hold offending officers accountable under criminal and civil law. Work with Congress to put forward legislation to lower the unfairly high burden to prosecute police officers for misconduct – ensuring those who violate constitutional or legal protections of civilians under Section 242 are held accountable. Reform and restrict the "qualified immunity" defense under section 1983 for law enforcement officers.
The burden of proof for a law enforcement officer is the same as a private citizen in a criminal and/or civil proceeding.
Qualified immunity is designed to protect all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law. Law enforcement officers are entitled to qualified immunity when their actions do not violate a clearly established statutory or constitutional right. In cases where a law enforcement officer acts outside of established policy, law, or constitutional right they are not protected by qualified immunity.
Support and invest in the establishment of civilian oversight boards to improve community oversight of police departments.
This is a topic in need of further discussion. We welcome the participation of our community in making improvements to the operations of the SFPD and in gaining first-hand knowledge about the manner in which the SFPD serves our community. The SFPD has sponsored and continues to offer Citizen Police Academy experiences to improve the dialog between Santa Fe residents and the police; in addition, the SFPD has offered Junior Police Academies to residents between the ages of 10 and 15. Community policing remains a priority for the SFPD.
The NMLEA Board recognizes this participation and has a civilian serving on their board alongside their law enforcement board members.
Eliminate "consequence-free" weapon discharges and arrests by requiring strict reporting requirements. This will include a requirement to report information that covers any injury sustained as a result of a weapon discharge or arrest, collateral consequences, re-entry, cost-analysis, an explanation of community impact, how any collateral consequences will be mitigated, and the cost of the arrest or weapon discharge, relative to its benefits, for the community.
SFPD requires personnel to report all weapons discharges, use of lethal force, use of less than lethal force into a reporting data base. This data is maintained by Internal Affairs.
All arrest information is collected via the Uniform Crime Report. If force is used, it is also documented by the SFPD and retained as a record in the data base maintained by Internal Affairs.
Proactively investigate police departments that consistently fail to meet standards.
The Department of Justice has demonstrated its willingness to intervene and to rehabilitate local law enforcement agencies through consent decrees where systemic issues involving civil rights violations occur.
Our State Attorney General's Office has also held public officials and law enforcement accountable for misconduct and criminal conduct.
Investigate all fatal police shootings in the nation in a transparent manner that ensures accountability and oversee consent decrees that are a result of police misconduct.
All SFPD police shootings, whether fatal or resulting in injury, are investigated by an outside law enforcement agency. The investigating law enforcement agency forwards the findings of the case to the District Attorney's Office for review. The District Attorney's Office determines if the shooting was lawful or if criminal charges against the officer are warranted.
Establish guidelines for next-generation surveillance technologies, like facial recognition technology, that accounts for disparate impact and bias in their application.
SFPD does not utilize facial recognition surveillance technology.
With new policing guidelines and increased accountability, law enforcement and community members are better able to build a culture of trust.
Demilitarize the police. Issue an executive order to end the transfer of tracked and wheeled armored vehicles, high-caliber rifles, aircraft equipped with weapons, grenade launchers, and other military weapons, vehicles, and equipment under the federal government's 1033 program. Prevent any federal funds granted to state or local governments from being used to buy this equipment, and recover previously-provided equipment such as armored vehicles that have no place on American streets.
SFPD has not obtained firearms, grenade launchers, or military weapons. SFPD has received a non-tracked armored vehicle, backpacks, computer hard drives, firearms sights, a forklift for our Fleet Management, reconnaissance robots for our Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team and nomex flight suits.
The items were provided at no cost, with the exception of the minimal transporting cost for the items from Colorado Springs, Colorado. The SFPD would rather procure needed equipment with City funds because the acquired equipment would be specific to our needs.
The preference would be for the Department to replace the armored vehicle from the 1033 program with a law enforcement armored vehicle which will cost approximately $300,000 to purchase. Armored vehicles are useful tools to protect our community in the event of a threat from gunfire. Armored vehicles make it possible to protect police personnel during a response and make it possible to conduct evacuations of community members when necessary to sustain life.
The lack of an armored vehicle resource places our community and first responders at risk. If the resource were needed, we would have to make a request to New Mexico State Police or a surrounding law enforcement agency to employ their vehicle, with the understanding that they may or may not have their resource available for response. In addition, the response would be delayed in comparison with a deployment by SFPD.
Work with state and local law enforcement to deprioritize enforcement of minor offenses that do not impact public safety to limit over-policing in communities, effectively ending the "broken windows policing" model that has contributed to mass incarceration, especially of people of color.
SFPD employs a community policing doctrine deeply rooted in problem-solving and engagement with our community. We are well versed in arrest alternatives available for minor offenses and our City has implemented the decriminalization of small drug possession for marijuana, making it a civil penalty.
Ensure law enforcement officers receive high-quality mental health and trauma support services following any use of a weapon, in combination with a transparent investigation into those incidents.
SFPD personnel are required to meet with a psychologist after deploying lethal force and must be cleared to return to duty. The Department also offers counseling services at no cost to Department members who are dealing with trauma as a result of their profession.
Invest in programs that address root causes and find alternatives to criminal justice interventions by providing increased funding for drug treatment, mental health support, educational completion programs, youth programs, both in-court and out-of-court diversion programs for non-violent offenses, and supportive interventions for families in crisis, including through universal health care coverage that extends Medicare to all Americans, covering mental health and drug treatment support.
Currently we participate in Criminal Justice/Court Programs such as Drug Court, Juvenile Justice, and THRIVE.
The SFPD has sponsored and continues to offer Citizen Police Academy experiences to improve the dialog between Santa Fe residents and the police; in addition, the SFPD has offered Junior Police Academies to residents between the ages of 10 and 15. Community policing remains a priority for the SFPD.
Mandate community-led trainings for police departments that emphasize nonviolent de-escalation, crisis intervention practices and racial equity concepts, as well as community-based solutions outside law enforcement and criminal justice systems that improve community safety and reduce harm.
SFPD partners with external partners in our community to provide training to our personnel as outlined.
End Section 287(g) agreements under the Immigration and Nationality Act and other such agreements between federal immigration enforcement agencies and state and local entities that erode trust between communities and local police.
The City of Santa Fe has an ordinance that prohibits SFPD personnel from detaining individuals solely for immigration status. SFPD may contact the Department of Homeland Security / Immigration Customs Enforcement for the following offenses:
- Concealing Identity
- Identity Theft
- A violent crime against another
- Human Trafficking
- Narcotics Trafficking
- Gang Activity
- Participation in Organized Crime Organizations
- Felonious Crime
The SFPD would complete their case as they normally would and the immigration matters would be a separate matter within the purview of ICE.
Promote alternative responses to 911 calls by establishing partnerships between mental health units and first responders. Support crisis intervention services equipped with medics, counselors, social workers, and, crisis workers, as first responders rather than armed police officers.
The SFPD has trained all officers and civilian field personnel in crisis intervention training to manage incidents involving individuals suffering from mental illness or disability.
We partner with a civilian Crisis Response Team that is available to respond to certain situations where an individual may be in crisis and do not pose an immediate threat to themselves or others. In cases where an individual does pose a threat to themselves or others, we utilize personnel from our Crisis Negotiations Team who are expert communicators.
Incentivize local governments to identify alternatives to arrests for offenses that do not threaten public safety by increasing grant eligibility based on pre-arrest diversion to the appropriate professional service (drug, mental health, housing, education, etc.).
The SFPD and the City of Santa Fe has been a leader in arrest diversion. The City decriminalized the possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana making it a civil penalty. SFPD was the 2nd law enforcement agency in the nation to establish and utilize a law enforcement assisted diversion (LEAD) program. The program allows low level drug offenders to get the much-needed help they require without unnecessarily entering them into the criminal justice system. LEAD programs have been receiving funding in the State of New Mexico because of the demonstrated success of Santa Fe's program.
Take administrative action to restrict the Equitable Sharing Program and pass legislation to end abusive civil asset forfeiture practices nationwide by requiring a criminal conviction before private property is seized, with any proceeds going to the Treasury's General Fund or their State-equivalent to eliminate profit motives for law enforcement.
The SFPD is restricted from participating in the Equitable Sharing Program and from participating in civil asset forfeiture programs.
The State of New Mexico recently changed asset forfeiture requirements which are in line with this recommendation.
