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January 13th, 2018, 06:32 AM #1
New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Judge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Republican Governor Wants To Give Police Officers Legal Immunity from Killing, Using Excessive Force Against Suspects
www.newsweek.com/new-mexico-governor-wants-grant-cops-immunity-778561
Updated | The Republican Governor of New Mexico could soon propose legislation that would protect police officers from lawsuits—essentially granting them immunity from cases of excessive force.
Governor Susana Martinez's bill would shield officers who fail to comply with police orders but would not protect officers who do not obey orders or break from training, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
“I don’t believe that police officers should be under this constant threat of lawsuits that will often cause them to pause,” Martinez recently told the Journal. “If they’re following their training, there should be something that protects them.”
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Related: Susana Martinez: What New Mexico's Governor Can Teach the GOP
The bill would protect cops and citizens from the “massive payouts that taxpayers are giving crooks and thieves who are hurt or injured by police officers who are doing their job,” Martinez added.
Steven Robert Allen, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico, told Newsweek that the governor's proposed bill would make it even more impossible to hold officers accountable.
"Any requirement that we lay an additional immunity for police officers makes absolutely no sense," he said. "No one is saying police officers should not be allowed to use reasonable force when their safety is in jeopardy. Excessive force is being used by police officers over and over again...and those officers are not being held accountable."
In recent years, families have been awarded millions following the death of their loved ones in officer-involved shootings. In 2014, the family of Christopher Torres received $6 million from the city after the 27-year-old mentally ill man was shot by police in his backyard.
“If a police officer does something wrong, he should be held accountable just like the rest of us,” Torres’s father, Stephen, told the Journal.
In 2014, the Department of Justice found that the Albuquerque Police Department had a pattern of using excessive force, including against people who posed a “minor threat” and against people with mental disabilities.
“Officers too frequently use deadly force against people who pose a minimal threat in situations where the conduct of the officers heightens the danger and contributes to the need to use force,” the report found.
Allen said the governor is operating out a playbook of using crime and public safety as a political issue in an election year.
"This is a part of a strategy to distract the public from the fact there are root causes of crime in New Mexico that are not being addressed," he said.
Martinez released her legislative proposals to fight crime on Monday. The proposal suggested increasing penalties for crimes and reinstating the death penalty for those who kill cops.
“New Mexicans have seen officers gunned down by thugs and children killed by monsters,” Martinez said in a statement. “It is time we say enough is enough. If you kill an officer or a child, you deserve the ultimate punishment.”
Experts say that officers are rarely ever convicted for on-duty shootings. Out of 84 officers arrested on murder or manslaughter charges only 30 have received convictions.
Police officers already receive qualified immunity, which protects them from being sued by placing the onus on citizens to prove that a police officer acted unconstitutionally.
Albuquerque Police Officers Association president Shaun Willoughby told Newsweek that the police association support's Martinez's proposal to offer additional immunity.
"We have a huge problem with trying to fill vacancies in police departments nationwide," Willoughby said. "This isn't as an attractive job. Qualified immunity makes sense in the federal system. Why put yourself in this job when you have such a huge civil liability? This is an extension of that [immunity]."
Martinez's office did not return requests for comment.
This story has been updated to include comments from the Albuquerque Police Officers Association.Last edited by vinnyg101; January 13th, 2018 at 06:58 PM. Reason: Drudge Dredd becomes Judge Dredd
Gun Owners of America lifetime member! Same sex marriage is an oxymoron!
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January 13th, 2018, 10:13 AM #2
Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Protect yourself is all I say.
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January 13th, 2018, 10:15 AM #3
Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Pretty sure you meant "Judge Dredd".
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January 13th, 2018, 10:24 AM #4
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January 13th, 2018, 10:26 AM #5Grand Member
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Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
I am for granting the street cop immunity for following their training TO THE LETTER, assuming the criminal and civil liability now falls entirely on the persons involved in creating and dispensing said training. If your program is fucked up, it's not the student's fault.
also, 30/84 isn't "rarely"... it's almost 36%, or more than 1/3rd.Last edited by sota; January 13th, 2018 at 10:29 AM.
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January 13th, 2018, 11:25 AM #6
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January 13th, 2018, 11:25 AM #7Super Member
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Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
" I was just following orders", didn't work at the Nuremberg trials.
Last edited by john9001; January 13th, 2018 at 11:28 AM.
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January 13th, 2018, 11:29 AM #8
Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Governor Susana Martinez's bill would shield officers who fail to comply with police orders but would not protect officers who do not obey orders or break from training, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
“I don’t believe that police officers should be under this constant threat of lawsuits that will often cause them to pause,” Martinez recently told the Journal. “If they’re following their training, there should be something that protects them.”
Everything that cops do will always be considered "following training" or "using experience" to justify their actions, no matter how horrible their actions may be.Rules are written in the stone,
Break the rules and you get no bones,
all you get is ridicule, laughter,
and a trip to the house of pain.
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January 13th, 2018, 11:30 AM #9
Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Judges are immune when innocent people are found guilty and do long stretches in prison. They are also immune when the guilty are found not guilty and go out and kill someone a week later. And there isn't always a jury to blame.
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January 13th, 2018, 11:44 AM #10
Re: New Mexico Governor wants to make cops like Drudge Dredd- Full Immunity!
Will they have full immunity to deal with illegal aliens?
There are no pacts between lions and men.
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