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Council hears about StarChase, real-time crime center guardrails and LCPD CALEA accreditation
Summary
OIR praised Las Cruces Police Department efforts to vet real-time crime center tools (including StarChase) and described CALEA accreditation work; council members asked for model surveillance-use policies and auditing practices to govern data retention and sharing.
Steve Connolly told the council OIR examined the department's real-time crime center and urged careful adoption of surveillance tools with clear guardrails around data sharing, retention and access. Connolly said StarChase — a GPS tag-and-track device used to reduce pursuits — is "relatively new" to many agencies and that LCPD has deployed it infrequently; OIR recommended policies and auditing protocols be developed alongside the technology.
Chief Jeremy Storey said the department has used StarChase since roughly 2016–2017 and that it has helped prevent pursuits in several instances, but acknowledged the technology is deployed only a handful of times per year. Council members asked OIR to share model surveillance contracts and policies; Connolly said OIR has worked with California municipalities on surveillance use policies and would share examples for retention policy, MOUs, user access and audit frequencies.
Mayor Eric Enriquez later announced that the Las Cruces Police Department has been awarded CALEA accreditation, congratulating Chief Storey and department staff for meeting national standards. The council discussed possible future work to adapt model surveillance policies to New Mexico law and local priorities.
