ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico responded to the news that, according to the Washington Post’s Fatal Force database, New Mexico has the highest rate of fatal officer involved shootings in the nation. For the fourth year running, the state of New Mexico has ranked either first or second in deadly police shootings nationwide. The following statement can be attributed to ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson:
“It is heartbreaking to see that year after year our state has one of the highest rates of deadly police shootings in the country. We call on all New Mexico’s law enforcement agencies to seriously examine their current training and policies in order to eliminate any and all avoidable fatalities moving forward. Departments throughout our state should train officers how to de-escalate potentially violent confrontations to increase the safety of officers and community members they must interact with. We also call on departments across New Mexico to universally adopt the use of body-worn cameras to increase accountability and safety in the line of duty. Every life lost is a tragedy, and our state clearly has much work to do.”
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