LCPD receive high marks from police audit

The OIR Group, a police auditing organization that serves as the independent police auditor for the City of Las Cruces, gave a presentation to the city council over its findings from investigations completed in the first half of the year.

During this time period, the OIR Group completed 10 investigations with eight of them being initiated by The Las Cruces Police Department and two of them being initiated by complaints from members of the public. In total, the auditor looked into 40 allegations spread across the 10 cases with 32 of those allegations being sustained, seven being exonerated and one being listed as not sustained.

Of the 20 LCPD employees that were investigated, 14 were officers, two were sergeants, two were non-sworn employees and one detective was investigated twice. 

Managing owner of OIR Group Teresa Magula said that the high percentage of sustained allegations is to be expected with this high number of investigations being started by LCPD and that it is “simply the nature of the types of cases that are being opened by the department.”

“The department almost has a head start in knowing that this thing is going to be an issue. This is a matter that has risen to the level of us identifying and investigating at an internal affairs level so most likely those things will be sustained in the course of the investigation,” Magula said. 

According to the audit, the disciplinary actions stemming from the sustained allegations ranged from verbal reprimands to suspension and termination. 

As for concerns surrounding possible policing bias in the community, OIR Group said that LCPD received 68,045 calls for service during the first half of this year and only three complaints from the public were made. In the five years that they have worked with the city, they have only identified 62 complainants.

“Even with that sample size, which some might go well that is fairly significant, it's not enough to come to any kind of pattern or finding related to disparate policing in your city,” Magula said.

Some major investigations that were completed this year include an officer-involved shooting that took place in 2022 where the officer was exonerated. Another officer involved shooting investigation from 2023 was completed where all allegations against the officer were sustained including allegations such as conduct toward the public, conduct unbecoming of an officer and procedure violation when it comes to applying force.

That officer was fired by LCPD.

The auditors praised LCPD for implementing their recommendations like reducing the investigative timeline, closely working with the legal advisor and referring cases to the force review cadre. 

According to the audit, across these 10 cases, “LCPD leadership demonstrated a consistent willingness to thoroughly investigate allegations (often initiating cases proactively) and to impose discipline or corrective action when violations were sustained.” The audit also highlighted LCPD’s receptiveness to oversight and commitment to professional growth.