Deputy Alejandro Gomez of the Grant County Sheriff's Office asked to hold a small rabbit found along a dirt road near Hachita. A fellow deputy, who was holding the animal, refused to hand it over — believing Gomez would kill it — before Gomez pointed his Taser at the deputy and said, "Give it to me right now." The deputy handed Gomez the bunny and told him, "Don't throw it," asking him to "swear on your kids" that he wouldn't. Gomez smiled toward the camera and threw the rabbit against the deputy's patrol vehicle. The rabbit was fatally injured. Gomez, 27, was placed on paid leave and is charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon upon a peace officer and one count of extreme cruelty to animals, a fourth-degree felony.

Retired APD Sergeant Dan Klein says this is the latest in a series of cops gone bad incidents that demand attention from the state:

Governor Lujan Grisham has ignored the mess that New Mexico law enforcement has become. We have the epic DWI scandal that implicates APD and other agencies continuing to unfold. And what has MLG said about it? Silence. Now we have a Grant County Sheriff Department deputy (Silver City) brutally killing a baby rabbit while a supervisor and other deputies laugh. Cruelty to animals is a red flag for potential cruelty humans. Is this what we are hiring as police officers now? 

The killing of baby animals and DWI scandal are the tips of an iceberg that there is something very wrong with law enforcement. What can the legislature do? They can update the entire law enforcement certification and licensing statute. The Law Enforcement Certification Board (they make rulings on whether officers can keep their certifications etc.) should be placed directly under the Attorney General. The Board is currently staffed with sheriff’s and police chiefs. That needs to be changed. The Board can have a law enforcement voice but other members should be current or retired judges, district attorneys, defense attorneys and civilian professionals.

The Governor's Law Enforcement Academy director resigned earlier this year and the CEO of the certification board was fired around the same time. Give control over law enforcement to the chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General, and make stringent new rules for hiring and firing of police officers. The good officers deserve professionalism not the joke that law enforcement has become. 

Gary Mitchell, attorney for Deputy Gomez, says: