2020 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 28 - Human Rights
Article 8 - Identifying Devices and Cards for Disabled Persons
Section 28-8-3 - Duty of peace officer.

A. A peace officer shall make a diligent effort to determin [determine] whether any disabled person he finds is an epileptic or a diabetic or suffers from some other type of illness that would cause the condition. Whenever feasible, this effort shall be made before the person is charged with a crime or taken to a place of detention.

B. In seeking to determine whether a disabled person suffers from an illness, a peace officer shall make a reasonable search for an identifying device and an identification card of the type described in Subsection B of Section 2 [28-8-2 NMSA 1978] of this act and examine them for emergency information. The peace officer may not search for an identifying device or an identification card in a manner or to an extent that would appear to a reasonable person in the circumstances to cause an unreasonable risk of worsening the disabled person's condition.

C. A peace officer who finds a disabled person without an identifying device or identification card is not relieved of his duty to that person to make a diligent effort to ascertain the existence of any illness causing the disabled condition.

D. A claim for relief against a peace officer does not arise from his making a reasonable search of the disabled person to locate an identifying device or identification card, even though the person is not wearing an identifying device or carrying an identification card. However, nothing found on the disabled person during a search authorized under this act [28-8-1 to 28-8-7 NMSA 1978] shall be admitted into evidence in any court in a criminal proceeding where the disabled person is a defendant if the admission of the product of the search would not be entitled to admission except for the authority to search granted in Subsection C of this section.

E. A peace officer who determines or has reason to believe that a disabled person is suffering from an illness causing his condition shall promptly notify the person's physician, if practicable. If the officer is unable to ascertain the physician's identity or to communicate with him, the officer shall make a reasonable effort to cause the disabled person to be transported immediately to a medical practitioner or to a facility where medical treatment is available. If the officer believes it unduly dangerous to move the disabled person, he shall make a reasonable effort to obtain the assistance of a medical practitioner.

History: 1953 Comp., § 12-31-3, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 265, § 3.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.