Settlement leads to order on how police handle misdemeanors

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The police chief of Albuquerque has instructed officers to issue citations, instead of making arrests, for certain misdemeanor crimes as part of a settlement of a longstanding lawsuit over jail conditions and arrest procedures in Bernalillo County. The Albuquerque Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2qHtAPl) that the settlement calls on police to take several actions, such as issuing an order explaining that people suspected of nonviolent misdemeanors, not including drunken driving, will be issued citations instead of being arrested "when there are no circumstances necessitating an arrest." The order was issued on May 10 by Chief Gorden Eden. It hasn't been approved by a judge or filed in court. Crimes affected by the new order include drinking in public, marijuana possession, prostitution, some shoplifting offenses, littering, panhandling, criminal trespass and others. ___ Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com