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Santa Fe police ask for dedicated discovery staff as calls and workloads grow
Summary
The police department told the Finance Committee it needs new records and discovery positions to meet a Supreme Court case‑management order and to reduce risk that cases are delayed or dismissed; the department also reported improved recruitment and lower vacancy rates.
Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joy told the Finance Committee April 29 that the department seeks five new full‑time staff to handle court discovery and records workloads after a recent Supreme Court case‑management order tightened discovery timelines.
The department reported that 2024 was its busiest recent year with 83,411 calls for service; the chief said the department is now allocated 169 sworn officers and had 13 vacancies (about 7.6%) at the time of the hearing. Police officials said vacancy levels have dropped from a high of 38 vacancies in 2022 to the current level, which officials credited to recruiting incentives, lateral hires and a focused recruiting effort.
Chief Joy described the discovery challenge: the state’s case‑management rules can require some discovery to be turned over within seven days — in certain circumstances three days — after the initial hearing. The city must provide reports, video, lab receipts and other items in that timeframe; failure to meet the deadlines, the chief warned, could lead to case dismissal in some circumstances.
To comply, police proposed five new positions — including at least one records supervisor — to allow seven‑day, seven‑day‑a‑week coverage and to prevent bottlenecks in the discovery workflow. The chief and deputy chiefs said the department already has staff processing discovery but that the work currently falls to employees who have other primary duties; they argued dedicated positions would speed processing and reduce the risk of missed deadlines.
The department also reviewed other priorities and investments: it is midway through a transition to Axon Records (a records management vendor) and plans to pursue accreditation with the New Mexico Municipal League. Police leaders also described technology investments and partnerships that have added capabilities: in‑house DNA processing equipment (recently installed but still awaiting some consumables and operating items), a domestic‑violence response specialist funded via a grant partnership, and a proposed speed/noise camera program that the department said would be best run from a civil code‑enforcement office rather than from police.
Chief Joy and deputies emphasized the department’s community focus and the value of continued training: recruitment and retention initiatives, they said, have reduced vacancies and allowed the department to add more civilian capacity. The committee gave preliminary approval to the police budget at the hearing and asked staff to return with implementation details on the records/discovery positions and planned technology transitions.
Ending: The department will bring costed position descriptions and a plan for seven‑day records coverage back to the Finance Committee during the next steps of the budget process.
