AN ACT
RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT; ENACTING
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT SAFE PURSUIT ACT; REQUIRING TRAINING AND POLICY FORMULATION
REGARDING HIGH SPEED PURSUITS; CREATING THE CRIME OF AGGRAVATED FLEEING A LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 4 of this
act may be cited as the "Law Enforcement Safe Pursuit Act".
Section 2. DEFINITION.--As used in the Law Enforcement
Safe Pursuit Act, "high speed pursuit" means an attempt by a law
enforcement officer in an authorized emergency vehicle to apprehend an occupant
of a motor vehicle, the driver of which is actively attempting to avoid
apprehension by exceeding the speed limit.
Section 3. POLICE TRAINING.--
A. No later than December 31, 2004, the New
Mexico law enforcement academy board shall develop and incorporate into the
basic law enforcement training required pursuant to the Law Enforcement
Training Act a course of instruction of at least sixteen hours concerning the
safe initiation and conduct of high speed pursuits.
B. The course of instruction shall emphasize the
importance of protecting the public at all times and the need to balance the
known offense and risk posed by a fleeing suspect against the danger to law
enforcement officers and other people by initiating a high speed pursuit.
C. The course of instruction shall include
adequate consideration of each of the following subjects:
(1) when to initiate a high speed pursuit;
(2) when to terminate a high speed pursuit;
(3) evaluating risks due to conditions of the
vehicle, driver, roadway, weather and traffic during a high speed pursuit;
(4) evaluating dangers to uninvolved motorists
and bystanders during a high speed pursuit;
(5) the number of law enforcement units permitted
to participate in the high speed pursuit;
(6) the responsibilities of primary, secondary
and supervisory law enforcement units during a high speed pursuit;
(7) proper communication and coordination
procedures when a high speed pursuit enters another law enforcement agency's
jurisdiction, including a tribal jurisdiction;
(8) driving tactics during a high speed pursuit;
(9) communications during a high speed pursuit;
(10) capture of suspects following a high speed
pursuit;
(11) supervisory responsibilities during a high
speed pursuit;
(12) use of blocking, ramming, boxing and
roadblocks as high speed pursuit tactics;
(13) use of alternative methods and technologies
for apprehending suspects during a high speed pursuit; and
(14) preparing a report and evaluation and
analysis of a high speed pursuit after it has concluded.
D. The New Mexico law enforcement academy board
shall develop the program of instruction, learning and performance objectives
and standards for training in conjunction with appropriate groups and
individuals that have an interest in and expertise regarding high speed
pursuits, including law enforcement agencies, law enforcement academy
instructors, experts on the subject and members of the public.
E. In-service law enforcement training, as
required pursuant to Section 29-7-7.1 NMSA 1978, shall include at least four
hours of instruction that conform with the requirements set forth in Subsection
C of this section.
F. Each certified regional law enforcement
training facility shall incorporate into its basic law enforcement training and
in-service law enforcement training a course of training in the safe initiation
and conduct of high speed pursuits that is comparable to or exceeds the
standards of the course of instruction developed by the New Mexico law
enforcement academy board.
Section 4. PURSUIT POLICIES.--
A. The chief law enforcement officer of every
state, county and municipal law enforcement agency shall establish and enforce
a written policy governing the conduct of law enforcement officers employed by
the agency who are involved in high speed pursuits. A copy of the written policy shall be
submitted to the director of the New Mexico law enforcement academy and the
traffic safety bureau of the state highway and transportation department.
B. The policy shall specify, at a minimum:
(1) the conditions under which a law enforcement
officer may engage in a high speed pursuit and the conditions when the officer
shall terminate a high speed pursuit;
(2) measures other than a high speed pursuit that
may be employed to apprehend a suspect in a fleeing motor vehicle or to impede
the movement of the vehicle;
(3) the coordination and responsibility,
including control over the high speed pursuit, of supervisory personnel and the
law enforcement officers engaged in the pursuit; and
(4) the procedures to be followed to notify and
coordinate high speed pursuits with law enforcement agencies in other
jurisdictions, including tribal jurisdictions.
C. The written policy shall, at a minimum,
require that:
(1) a law enforcement officer may initiate a high
speed pursuit to apprehend a suspect who the officer has reasonable grounds to
believe poses a clear and immediate threat of death or serious injury to others
or who the officer has probable cause to believe poses a clear and immediate
threat to the safety of others that is ongoing and that existed prior to the
high speed pursuit;
(2) a law enforcement officer shall not initiate
or continue a high speed pursuit when the immediate danger to the officer and
the public created by the high speed pursuit exceeds the immediate danger to
the public if the occupants of the motor vehicle being pursued remain at large;
(3) when deciding whether to initiate or continue
a high speed pursuit, the following factors, at a minimum, shall be taken into
consideration:
(a) the seriousness of the offense for which the
high speed pursuit was initiated;
(b) whether a suspect poses a clear and immediate
threat of death or serious injury to others;
(c) road, weather, environmental and vehicle
conditions;
(d) the amount of motor vehicle and pedestrian
traffic; and
(e) knowledge of the suspect's identity, possible
destination and previous activities that may make apprehension at a later time
feasible; and
(4) no more than two law enforcement vehicles
shall become actively involved in a high speed pursuit, unless specifically
authorized by a supervisor.
Section 5. A new section of the Criminal Code is enacted
to read:
"AGGRAVATED FLEEING A LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.--
A. Aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer
consists of a person willfully and carelessly driving his vehicle in a manner
that endangers the life of another person after being given a visual or audible
signal to stop, whether by hand, voice, emergency light, flashing light, siren
or other signal, by a uniformed law enforcement officer in an appropriately
marked law enforcement vehicle in pursuit in accordance with the provisions of
the Law Enforcement Safe Pursuit Act.
B. Whoever commits aggravated fleeing a law
enforcement officer is guilty of a fourth degree felony."
Section 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2003.