Transparency

This is a comprehensive list of arrests made by Las Cruces police during the previous week. Please note, anyone charged with a criminal offense should be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Las Cruces Police Department compiles two annual reports that are both available for public view: the Annual Crime Report, below, and the Annual Internal Affairs Report.

Crime Report 2025*

The Las Cruces Police Department’s Annual Report provides information about programs and units within the department. The annual report includes information, beyond crime statistics, that provides a clear representation of the work done by the men and women of LCPD.

LCPD officers who are eligible are represented by the Las Cruces Police Officers Association through a contract that’s negotiated with the City of Las Cruces.

Lt. Joy Wiitala serves as our LGBTQ+ police liaison and helps ensure that LGBTQ+ residents have someone with the department they can contact to share concerns and engage with LCPD. Lt. Wiitala also oversees LCPD’s Community Outreach section and can be reached by email.

The City of Las Cruces contracts a Police Auditor to review complaints submitted to Internal Affairs. The Police Auditor briefs City Council and City Management on its findings, semiannually, during public meetings. The OIR Group was hired by the City on May 1, 2021. Their Semi-Annual report is available at OIR Group Semi-Annual Report.

LCPD’s Internal Affairs Office includes a lieutenant, two sergeants and two detectives who investigate Use of Force incidents and complaints (internal and external) made against officers. The Use of Force flow chart is below followed by the Complaint Investigation process.

Internal Affairs also oversees LCPD’s Research and Development section. R&D authors and maintains General Orders and policies for the department.

• If you wish to file a formal complaint against the Las Cruces Police Department, a unit, team, officer or employee, please complete and file a Complaint Form electronically.
• To praise, commend or compliment an officer, complete this Compliment Form and submit electronically.

LCPD’s Internal Affairs Annual Report is available online.

1. Use of force occurs.
2. Officer submits a use of force report to chain of command.
3. Officer’s chain of command examines all available evidence
4. Did chain of command have concerns in reference to General Order 255 Use of Force? If yes, continue to 5. If no, skip to 13.
5. Supervisor submits a request for a use of force review, along with a memo outlining the questions and concerns of the use of force, to Internal Affairs. If use of force is questioned or thought to be unreasonable, continue to 6. If use of force is found to be reasonable with no ancillary issues, skip to 13.
6. Internal Affairs assigns the use of force to the Use of Force Cadre for review.
7. Use of Force Cadre reviews the incident and submits findings: Reasonable with No Ancillary Issues, Unreasonable or Reasonable with Ancillary Issues. If found Reasonable with No Ancillary Issues, skip to 13. Otherwise, continue to 8.
8. Internal Affairs lieutenant determines if an investigation will take place at the shift level or if it will handled by Internal Affairs.
9. Shift supervisors or Internal Affairs investigator completes investigation.
10. Investigative report is submitted through chain of command to the Chief for approval with disposition of policy violations.
11. Discipline recommendation is submitted by the shift supervisor for any sustained allegations taking into account severity of violation(s) and history of employee discipline.
12. Once discipline is approved by the chain of command and Human Resources, it is served by the employee’s supervisor.
13. Findings are approved and sent to Internal Affairs for documentation and quality assurance.
14. Any use of force that generated an internal investigation is sent to the OIR Group, the independent police auditor contracted by the City of Las Cruces.

1. Complaint Intake (complaint made by someone externally or is generated internally).
2. Complaint forwarded to Internal Affairs.
3. Internal Affairs lieutenant determines if the complaint has merit to become a formal investigation and if the investigation will be conducted at the Shift Supervisor level (go to 4) or by an Internal Affairs investigator (skip to 5). If the complaint has no merit, skip to 9.
4. Shift supervisor is assigned to conduct an administrative investigation and prepare an investigative report.
5. Internal Affairs investigator is assigned to conduct an administrative investigation and prepare an investigative report.
6. Investigative report is submitted through chain of command to Chief for approval with disposition of policy violations.
7. Discipline recommendation is submitted by shift supervisor for any sustained allegations taking into accounty severity and employee discipline history.
8. Once discipline is approved by the chain of command and Human Resources, it is served by the employee’s supervisor and the complainant is notified of the disposition. Skip to 10.
9. Preliminary inquiry is submitted to the Chief of Police and closed out upon approval.
10. Formal and internal investigations are forwarded to the Police Auditor.

1. Policy review, analysis, revisions or data review is initiated.
2. Research and Development coordinates assignments regarding who will author General Orders.
3. Rough draft of the potential policies or changes are collected by R&D.
4. The draft of the General Order is sent to subject matter experts and/or colleagues for review and comment. Reviewers have 15 days to complete the review and commentary. If applicable, draft is sent to City Attorney for legal review.
5. Research and Development collects the draft for formatting and editing.
6. Draft is sent to Chief of Police for review.
7. Once draft is approved by Chief of Police, Research and Development forwards it to all department supervisors for review and commentary. Supervisors have 15 days to complete their review and commentary.
8. Research and Development reviews recommendations and makes the necessary changes, if any.
9. Draft is sent to Chief of Police for final review and approval.
10. Approved copy is sent to President of the Las Cruces Police Officer’s Association for review and commentary. The President of the association has 15 days to complete review and provide commentary.
11. Research and Development distributes and posts the final approved policy on the server. R&D helps coordinate and document the appropriate training necessary to comply with the new policy and works with the Academy to ensure appropriate retention of training records.

The Las Cruces Police Department’s annual budget, along with budgetary information for all municipal departments, is available on the City’s Budget page.

LCPD’s Professional Development Unit runs the Academy and ensures all commissioned officers receive mandatory training and maintain their required certifications throughout their careers. Training includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Code of Conduct
• Use of Force
• De-Escalation
• Implicit Bias Training
• CIT Training
• Instructor Certifications

The Training Academy also recruits and trains future officers for LCPD and other law enforcement agencies in southern New Mexico. The training provided by LCPD’s Academy meets and exceeds the requirements set forth by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. To learn more about the Training Academy, or apply for a position as a cadet or lateral transfer, please visit the Academy website.

General Orders, often called Standard Operating Procedures, are intended to regulate the conduct of employees. They are not intended to create any higher standard of care than required by State Law to establish civil liability on the City, the department, or its employees. General Orders are established as a result of organizational policies. Together with the City of Las Cruces Personnel Manual and the City Manager’s Manual of Personnel Policies, they are the official guides to department organization and operation.

The Research and Development Unit is responsible for the publication and revision of the General Orders Manual. The General Orders Manual supplements City Manager Policies, City Personnel Policies, and Collective Bargaining Agreements. Federal, state and local laws will always take precedence above all else. City Personnel Regulations, City Manager Policies, and Collective Bargaining Agreements take precedence over the General Orders Manual whenever there is a conflict between these documents.

Most incident reports generated by LCPD are public documents and available, for a nominal fee, through our Records window. Incidents pending investigations are not readily available. Crash Reports are available online.

LCPD records and incident reports can also be requested through an IPRA (Inspection of Public Records Act) by going through this portal. Additional information about public records can be found here.

The Las Cruces Police Department shares helpful information, safety tips and occasionally some great photos on our social media platform: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Important information concerning public safety and critical incidents is typically posted to our Twitter account, first. Follow-up information, news releases and safety tips are posted to either Facebook or Instagram. We invite you to follow us on any, or all, of our social media accounts.