Fired police misconduct board CEO says he won't challenge his termination
The fired CEO of the New Mexico office tasked with investigating police misconduct told Source NM this week he won't challenge his termination.
The Law Enforcement Certification Board fired Joshua Calder on March 20, less than a year into his tenure as its first CEO and less than one month after New Mexico Department of Public Safety Secretary Jason Bowie urged the board to do so following Calder's accusation of DPS interference in police misconduct investigations.
In an interview with Source NM on Wednesday, Calder said while he believes an appeals process exists for his termination, 'I'm not planning on moving forward with an appeal.'
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Board Member Joseph Walsh, in moving to terminate Calder following a closed-door meeting, alleged that he had failed 'to keep the board apprised of lobbying and other legislative efforts affecting board operations.'
Walsh has not responded to an email seeking clarification about those lobbying and legislative efforts.
Calder told Source he and LECB Operations Officer Laura Escarcida met with Walsh in person to discuss Senate Bill 50, which would have made a series of reforms to New Mexico police training and clarified the relationship between the board and DPS.
SB50 would have explicitly given the CEO and their staff the ability to 'function with complete independence of the department of public safety,' with their 'own budget and budget authority.'
Calder said he learned about SB50 from co-drafter Rachel Feldman, the appointed citizen-at-large of the Law Enforcement Standards and Training Council and the chair of SOS Santa Fe's Civil Rights & Law Enforcement Reform Committee.
'I don't know of, other than that, any other legislative items that would have affected the Law Enforcement Certification Board,' Calder said.
SB50 sponsor Sen. Antonio Maestas (D-Albuquerque) previously said the relationship between the cabinet-level state agency and the independent police misconduct board has been the subject of 'confusion' due to the department's failure to complete tasks necessary for an 'administratively attached' agency.
Calder told Source NM that DPS never took the steps for the LECB to have its own budget, email system and hiring practices.
'This was all supposed to be taken care of before I took the CEO position. That was supposed to be handled by DPS, that did not occur,' he said.
Lawmakers tabled the legislation on Feb. 28, after opposition from Bowie, the New Mexico State Police and the New Mexico Police Chiefs Association.
The same day, the Police Chiefs Association issued a no-confidence vote against Calder and accused him of 'weaponizing' state law against Bowie, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Calder said he doesn't know how LECB moves forward without a CEO.
'The challenges that this person is going to face are going to be difficult,' he said. 'Unless they have somebody in mind already that's going to do what DPS is recommending or wants to do, then it would still be under the control of DPS, as it had been in the past, prior to the legislation that separated it.'
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