Bernalillo commission seeks review of sheriff’s policies

Recent incidents spurring response

Bernalillo County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution calling for a review of sheriff’s office policies with an eye for possible liabilities and changes.

The review will come after an increasing number of use-of-force incidents by sheriff’s deputies, some that have led the county to have to spend money fighting lawsuits or settling cases for substantial amounts.

“This is in response to some community concerns about an increasing number of use-of-force incidents,” said Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, who sponsored the resolution.

In a separate matter, the commission also voted Tuesday night to spend $400,000 more than originally planned on law enforcement insurance premiums, which have gone up in part because of an increase in lawsuits.

Sheriff Manuel Gonzales, who first broached the idea of a review of policies, said he’ll agree to hire the law firm Robles, Rael and Anaya, a local firm which has defended police officers in several high-profile cases, to review use-of-force and pursuit policies and give the sheriff’s office an update on case law.

Several recent lawsuits filed against the sheriff’s office have raised questions about use-offorce and pursuit policies, as well as its camera policies. The sheriff’s office doesn’t record its interactions with the public with either on-body or dashboard cameras, though Albuquerque police and many other law enforcement agencies around New Mexico do.

County Attorney Ken Martinez said the county could also bring in a subject matter expert from the New Mexico Association of Counties. Or, he said, the county could put out a request for proposals to bring in a national firm to conduct such a review.

The resolution says that the sheriff and county manager will select a firm for the review.

Baron Jones, the Smart Justice Coordinator for the ACLU in New Mexico, spoke in support of the resolution.

“This commission has an important oversight role to ensure tax dollars of Bernalillo County residents go toward a highly trained and professional police force instead of settling multi-million dollar lawsuits,” he said.

Gonzales said during the meeting that the sheriff’s office is committed to transparency and works hard to craft good policies.

“We’ve been very diligent about reviewing the policies,” he said. “These policies aren’t arbitrarily made and put out there.”