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Legal Updates

Legal Update Curriculum

The curriculum provided is an adaptation of the two week legal block of instruction provided to the Basic Police Officer Training Academy cadets in addition to topics not required in the academy core curriculum such as profiling. The adapted lesson plans are in a format than can be delivered in an in-service training format to incumbent officers as a “Legal Update” class. An instructor may chose from the topics provided and tailor the class to the needs of the agency both in training time and topics of interest. As an alternative the topics can be read by officers in a self-paced self-directed format. The topics are structured so that the important points of law are explained first, followed by scenarios and key points (in blue type). The student can apply the material to make decisions about how the scenario should be handled. Finally the material presents the legal analysis (in red type) explaining how the courts have applied the law to the scenarios provided. The scenarios are actual incidents which have occurred in New Mexico or have received national attention.

Each block of instruction has been issued an accreditation number which is listed after each link so you may use them for in-service training and apply the training hours toward the biennium in-service training requirements.

Instructional Material

Revised May 4, 2012

Constitutional Law NM11-42 (2 hours)

Criminal Law NM11-43B (10 Hours)

Laws of Arrest NM11-44 (7 hours)

Search and Seizure NM11-45A (15 hours)

Additional Legal Curriculum

Legal Updates