For the purpose of the Law Enforcement Training Act:

1. A. "academy" means the New Mexico law enforcement academy;
2. B. "basic law enforcement training" means a course consisting of not less than four hundred hours of instruction in basic law enforcement training as required by the Law Enforcement Training Act;
3. C. "board" means the law enforcement certification board;
4. D. "conviction" means an adjudication of guilt or a plea of no contest and includes convictions that are suspended or deferred;
5. E. "council" means the New Mexico law enforcement standards and training council;
6. F. "director" means the director of the division;
7. G. "division" means the New Mexico law enforcement academy of the department of public safety;
8. H. "in-service law enforcement training" means a course of instruction required of all certified peace officers and designed to train and equip all police officers in the state with specific law enforcement skills and to ensure the continuing development of all police officers in the state. The training and instruction shall be kept current and may be conducted on a regional basis at the discretion of the director;
9. I. "law enforcement agency" means an agency of the state or local political subdivision of the state that employs certified law enforcement officers or the police department of a tribe that has entered into an agreement with the department of public safety pursuant to Section 29-1-11 NMSA 1978;
10. J. "police officer" means any commissioned employee of a law enforcement agency that is part of or administered by the state or any political subdivision of the state, and includes any employee of a missile range civilian police department who is a graduate of a recognized certified regional law enforcement training facility and who is currently certifiable by the academy, which employee is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime or the enforcement of the penal, or traffic or highway laws of this state. The term specifically includes deputy sheriffs. Sheriffs are eligible to attend the academy and are eligible to receive certification as provided in the Law Enforcement Training Act. As used in this subsection, "commissioned" means an employee of a law enforcement agency who is authorized by a sheriff or chief of police to apprehend, arrest and bring before the court all violators within the law enforcement agency's jurisdiction; and
11. K. "certified regional law enforcement training facility" means a law enforcement training facility within the state certified by the director, with the approval of the academy's board of directors, that offers basic law enforcement training and in-service law enforcement training that is comparable to or exceeds the standards of the programs of the academy.

History: 1978 Comp., § 29-7-7, enacted by Laws 1981, ch. 114, § 6; 1988, ch. 58, § 2; 1993, ch. 255, § 8; 1997, ch. 213, § 1; 2015, ch. 3, § 25; 2022, ch. 56, § 9.

ANNOTATIONS

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1981, ch. 114, § 6 repealed former 29-7-7 NMSA 1978, relating to basic course minimum requirements, and enacted a new 29-7-7 NMSA 1978.

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, defined "council" and "law enforcement agency", and revised the definitions of "board" and "police officer", for purposes of the Law Enforcement Training Act; in Subsection C, after "means the", deleted "New Mexico" and after "law enforcement", deleted "academy" and added "certification"; added a new Subsection E and redesignated former Subsections E through G as Subsections F through H, respectively; added a new Subsection I and redesignated former Subsections H and I as Subsections J and K, respectively; and in Subsection J, after "all violators within the", deleted "state" and added "law enforcement agency's jurisdiction".

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, provided for the reorganization of the department of public safety by clarifying definitions of the Law Enforcement Training Act; in Subsection E, after "director of the", deleted "academy" and added "division"; added new Subsection F, and redesignated the subsequent subsections accordingly; in the present Subsection G, after "officers", added "and"; and in the present Subsection H, after "certifiable by the", deleted "New Mexico law enforcement".

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, inserted "and includes any employee of a missile range civilian police department who is a graduate of a recognized certified regional law enforcement training facility, and who is currently certifiable by the New Mexico law enforcement academy" in the first sentence of Subsection G.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, substituted "the Law Enforcement Training Act" for "this Act" in Subsection B; added present Subsection D; redesignated former Subsections D through G as E through H; substituted "academy" for "New Mexico law enforcement academy" in Subsection E; rewrote Subsection F; and made minor stylistic changes in Subsections G and H.

Police officers are public employees, not public officers, and have no sovereign power. Walck v. City of Albuquerque, 1994-NMCA-058, 117 N.M. 651, 875 P.2d 407, cert. denied, 118 N.M. 695, 884 P.2d 1174.

An agent of the department of alcoholic beverage control (ABC) is a "police officer" as defined in Subsection G and is required to satisfy the law enforcement certification requirement of former Section 29-7-8 NMSA 1978, even if the agent was hired by the department before the enactment of this section in 1981, which expanded the definition of "police officer" to include agents such as those employed by ABC. Serrano v. State Dep't of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 1992-NMCA-015, 113 N.M. 444, 827 P.2d 159.

"Police officer". — The livestock board in its capacity of enforcing the law is a "law enforcement agency", its officers are "police officers" for purposes of this section, and livestock inspectors have 12 months after employment in which to receive their certification from the law enforcement academy or forfeit their positions. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-34.