Civil Rights/Criminal Justice Reform
SOS members at Roundhouse in support of our legislative initiative
Civil rights are rights guaranteed by constitutions (federal and state) and laws authorized by those constitutions. Women, people of color, those who identify with ethnic, cultural and religious groups, LGBTQ, and people with disabilities are represented by advocacy organizations that work to ensure equal treatment under law and protect civil rights. Currently, extremist politics and violence nationwide threaten our safety, civil rights, and democracy itself. Here in New Mexico we see law enforcement as having the potential to prevent and mitigate violence. We are working to transform law enforcement to protect our rights and everyone's safety.
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What We Are Doing
Since early 2022, our partnership with state and local law enforcement has led to legislation to modernize the law enforcement system. We have built a statewide coalition of frontline law enforcement leaders who are working together to transform standards, training, and accountability throughout New Mexico.
We are drafting legislation for the 2024 legislature that will create a recruitment system that addresses the critically high vacancy rates in law enforcement and telecommunication (911) agencies – vacancies that cripple crisis response in our state. This legislation also proposes improvements in the integration of behavioral health and public safety services.
Indivisible SOS’ civil rights chair, Rachel Feldman, was recently appointed by the Governor to the Standards and Training Council created by the 2023 legislation. We are working with a state contractor to overhaul law enforcement curricula.
Our effort to increase the proportion of women in law enforcement aligns with a national initiative to achieve 30 percent women by 2030 (the 30X30 initiative). We are asking the Governor to support this work and are joined by the State Police and Sonya Chavez, the new Director of the Law Enforcement Academy (LEA).
Finally, we support the work of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, an organization building communities that do not discriminate based on national origin or immigration status and achieve better representation for immigrant and mixed status families in southeast New Mexico
Take Action
Following the 2024 legislature session our work continues. If you would like to be more involved in this work, please join Indivisible SOS Santa Fe and our committee.
