City staff on Monday presented a proposal to the Las Cruces City Council to amend the municipal code to allow Police Service Aids to investigate crashes that result in up to minor injuries and to issue traffic citations as part of post-crash investigations.

“Percentage taken by PSA is over 67%,” City Attorney Bridal Douglas said while presenting multi-year crash-report figures showing PSA involvement rising from roughly 28.7% in 2023 to more than 67% in the most recent year. Douglas said the proposed edits would explicitly authorize PSAs to investigate certain minor crashes and write applicable municipal traffic citations without waiting for a sworn officer to arrive.

The change is narrowly framed as post‑accident authority: Douglas and other presenters emphasized PSAs would not initiate traffic stops or have arrest powers. “PSAs still do not have arrest authority,” Douglas said, adding that any incident requiring an arrest — for example an alleged DWI — would be handled by a sworn officer.

Lieutenant Cody Austin described the PSA training regimen. “It’s a 5 week academy,” Austin said, listing onboarding, crisis‑intervention/de‑escalation training, report writing, ordinance identification and roughly 40 hours of crash‑investigation training, plus search‑and‑seizure instruction and defensive tactics. Austin said four PSAs have since transitioned into the Police Academy and become sworn officers, calling the program a potential recruitment pipeline.

Councilors used the work session to probe accountability, safety and court-processing consequences. Councilor Kerouac noted Office of Independent Review reports and urged tighter screening and follow-up for PSAs who will have increased public contact. Kerouac also raised the role of third‑party pressures, saying insurance demands and public‑records requests can drive documentation burdens; he said, “I think it relates to IPRA.”

Chief Jeremy Storey said the proposal responds in part to municipal‑court and on‑scene logistical problems. If a PSA takes a crash report but cannot issue a citation, the department may later mail a summons; that delay complicates insurers’ fault determinations and can cause missed court appearances and downstream enforcement actions, Storey said. “This is addressing concerns that municipal court has brought to us as well as the issues on scene,” he said.

Councilors also asked about safety equipment and the risk of escalated interactions. Austin said the department plans high‑visibility uniforms and personal‑defense items to allow PSAs to create distance and wait for sworn officers rather than engage. Presenters repeatedly said refresher and remedial training would be provided if early implementation shows gaps.

City Attorney Douglas said the City Attorney’s Office would remain available to PSAs for legal support; PSAs currently prosecute parking citations and, if expanded, would prosecute the additional municipal traffic citations while the city attorney’s office monitors trends and offers assistance on complex matters.

No council vote was taken at the work session. The proposal remains at the discussion stage; councilors asked staff to return with any needed clarifications on training standards, oversight or equipment before a formal ordinance is scheduled for a hearing or vote.