Body camera footage shows a man being killed by police after they respond to the wrong address

The killing of Robert Dotson in Farmington, N.M., by a police officer is unjustified and warranted by law enforcement

Last week, officers with the Farmington, N.M., Police Department responded to a call of a domestic violence incident. Police mistakenly arrived at the wrong house and shot and killed Robert Dotson after he opened his door armed with a handgun.

Critics of police response in New Mexico say a bigger gun culture in the state compared to much of the rest of the country and lax police training play a factor in the high incidence of police killings.

The data shows that last year, 32 people were killed by police in the state. Campaign Zero is a nonprofit focused on policing reform.

“Who would have thought New Mexico would have one of the highest rates in the country?” said Howard Henderson, founding director of the Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University. He’s a professor in the school of public affairs.

The data on policing violence.org reflects any instance where a law enforcement officer applies lethal force and the civilian is killed. This is whether the killing was considered “justified” or “unjustified” by law enforcement.

The New Mexico office of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a news release that the need for statewide police reform is clear after the death inFarmington.

The Albuquerque Police Department: Training, Training and Reporting for Officers in the State’s Largest Firearms Enforcement Agency

There were over 130,000 firearms registered in the state, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The data is collected under the National Firearms act, but only part of the weapons can be seen.

According to CBS News, 42% of New Mexico adults have a gun at home in the next two years. The state ranked 21st in a list of states and gun ownership. Texas has more than 1 million gun licenses and more than 50% of adults say they live in a home with guns.

This may explain higher levels of fatal use of force by police. Officers are more likely going to respond to a call assuming an individual may be armed, Ahranjani said.

Ahranjani said that police should be taught to de-escalate situations rather than use lethal force due to the state’s high gun ownership.

For many years, the Albuquerque Police Department, the law enforcement agency in the state’s largest city, has had difficulties with its officers’ use-of-force. There has been an investigation by the US Justice Department. The city and federal officials reached an agreement to improve training.

Earlier this year, the police department announced additional ways to adopt a policy of less-lethal-force. Increased supervision by superiors and more protective equipment for the officers are included. The changes were announced in March after a review of officer-shootings.

There has been added more training for officers to be aware of different options, according to a statement from the deputy chief of the accountability bureau. We want officers to be prepared to respond in the most effective way possible, so that they learn from their peers.

Jones, a senior policy strategist with the New Mexico ACLU, told NPR there needs to be a consistent policy for use of force across the state’s law enforcement agencies.

Under state law, all police officers in New Mexico are required to complete in-service training twice a year and report this to the state. But, according to a 2021 analysis provided by the New Mexico ACLU, during the during the last biannual training cycle “only 47 % of law enforcement agencies complied with state reporting requirements, with over half of agencies’ compliance with statutory training requirements unclear.”

“We’ve learned that there’s been situations where officers are out there patrolling the streets without having the requisite training or license,” Jones said.

In search of a solution Albuquerque developed a specialized department staffed to react with a non-law enforcement-led response to 911 calls related to mental health, substance use and homelessness.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/14/1169480686/police-killings-new-mexico-gun-ownership

How a New Mexico cop opened fire on a man after responding to an unresolved gunshot in April 5. Authorities released video from a scene with a handgun

“The interesting part about all of that is when you look at what’s happening [in New Mexico], that’s just what we know about. Henderson said that that’s not even what they don’t know.

Many data sources on police use of force rely on voluntary reporting from the nation’s more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies. Various agencies have low participation in the federal database on police use of force.

Three New Mexico officers opened fire on a man after mistakenly responding to the wrong address earlier this month – an incident that left the man dead, police said Friday as they released body camera footage from the shooting.

The body cameras worn by officers who were involved in theApril 5 incident were released by the police department.

After no one answered their knocks on the door, police officers asked a dispatcher for clarity on the address and to call the person who reported the incident and ask them to come to the front door, authorities said.

The videos also show an interaction with Dotson’s wife who arrived at the door about a minute later armed with a handgun. Authorities say she exchanged gunfire with officers. Police said she was fine.

The chief of the police dept said it was the worse part of the problem when asked about the wrong address.

Chief Hebbe said they do go to the wrong addresses from time to time, but that it is terrible.

Two officers in the Monte Carlo operation – the first officer in the unitary action of the BKK-Injector’s co-operation

The names of the officers involved in the incident have not been released and were redacted in the footage. There are three officers in this department and two of them have been employed for more than three years.