SW New Mexico News

Las Cruces City Council received updates on the City’s Strategic Plan and from the firm that audits complaints against the Las Cruces Police Department during a work session held Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.

Srijana Basnyat, City Innovation and Strategy Administrator, and Mark Miller, Interim Lead Planner, provided the City’s Strategic Plan Report. Basnyat and Miller updated Council on the use of Envisio, a new platform that provides a public dashboard with a data-driven overview of the City’s strategic plan.

The Strategic Plan has six themes: Community Prosperity; Education and Community Services; Environmental Sustainability; Capital Improvement and Infrastructure; Communication, Involvement and Follow-up; and Public Safety.

The plan is the City’s guiding policy document for resource allocation from 2021 to 2026.

Basnyat shared that updated information on the public dashboard is a culmination of several months of work to help manage the City’s Comprehensive and Strategic plans.

Envisio is a plan management and reporting software that assists in increasing transparency and accountability between City staff and the public. The City’s Strategic Plan Public Dashboard can be found online.

The OIR Group is in its fourth year as the independent police auditor for the City. OIR reviews investigations completed by LCPD into allegations of officer misconduct initiated internally or by members of the public.

Viola Perea, City Auditor, introduced Teresa Magula and Stephen Connolly of the OIR Group. Magula and Connolly indicated the goal of OIR is to determine whether LCPD’s handling of each case was complete, objective, thorough, and whether actions taken in response to investigations were appropriate.

OIR reviewed eight cases investigated and closed out by LCPD Internal Affairs between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2024. Of those eight cases, six were external complaints made by members of the public that generated 23 unique allegations.

Of these 23 unique allegations from external complaints, 14 were sustained while one was not sustained. Seven allegations were exonerated while two were unfounded.

The remaining two cases were initiated internally by LCPD employees who had concerns about conduct or procedures by fellow employees. The two internal complaints generated 17 unique allegations.

Of these 17 unique allegations, 14 were sustained while two were not sustained. One allegation was exonerated.

Magula and Connolly both expressed evidence of improvement by LCPD in identifying, addressing, and where appropriate remediating misconduct at all levels. OIR indicated they saw an increase in officers who felt a duty to intervene and report potential misconduct.

The audit also reviewed four closed civil litigation cases involving 13 named LCPD employees during this period.

New in 2024, OIR is engaging with the Las Cruces community by hosting outreach meetings with the public. The first public outreach meeting was held Monday after the City Council Work Session.

Due to Labor Day holiday observance, Las Cruces City Council will next meet in regular session at 1 p.m., Tuesday Sept. 3, 2024 at Council Chambers located at 700 N Main St. All City Council meetings are available on the City's YouTube page.

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