SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico has appointed Scott Weaver to lead the Public Safety Department amid a statewide manhunt for a convicted murderer and another violent inmate who fled from a prisoner transport van.
Gov. Susana Martinez announced Thursday the promotion of Weaver to secretary from acting secretary.
Weaver will oversee the State Police, Motor Transportation Police and the Law Enforcement Academy. He previously managed state forensics laboratories in Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Hobbs, and was a State Police officer from 1994 to 2015.
Weaver helped brief reporters Thursday on the search for the two fugitive prison inmates and the State Police investigation into their escape. State officials said prisoners Joseph Cruz and Lionel Clah went missing between Roswell and Las Cruces and should be considered armed and dangerous.