Opinion ID: 1168239
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: whether pursuit was justified as an emergency measure or a citizen's arrest.

Text: The county offers authority from other jurisdictions recognizing the right of police, acting without statutory authority, to engage in fresh pursuit of DWI offenders. Citing State v. McCarthy, 123 N.J. Super. 513, 303 A.2d 626 (Law Div. 1973), the county suggests the officer's pursuit across the county line be justified as an emergency measure. We do not see the evidence before us as sufficient to justify the officer's pursuit as an emergency measure. Prior to stopping defendant, the officer observed only minor traffic violations. There is no evidence indicating defendant's driving was so erratic as to lead the officer to believe defendant presented a threat or menace to the general public. See id. Alternatively, the county urges we validate the officer's pursuit and subsequent stop of defendant as a citizen's arrest. See State v. Sellers, 350 N.W.2d 460 (Minn. Ct. App. 1984). Historically, a citizen's power to arrest in New Mexico has extended only to felonies. See State v. Barreras, 64 N.M. 300, 328 P.2d 74 (1958); Territory v. McGinniss, 10 N.M. 269, 61 P. 208 (1900), overruled on other grounds. State v. Deltenre, 77 N.M. 497, 424 P.2d 782 (1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 976, 87 S.Ct. 1171, 18 L.Ed.2d 136 (1967). More recently, this court has noted that at common law a citizen was privileged to arrest for a breach of the peace committed in his presence. Downs v. Garay, 106 N.M. 321, 742 P.2d 533 (Ct.App. 1987). Our courts have also recognized DWI as an offense involving a breach of the peace in order to allow justices of the peace jurisdiction to hear such complaints. State v. Rue, 72 N.M. 212, 382 P.2d 697 (1963). We do not read the holdings in Rue and Downs as recognition of common law power in citizens of New Mexico to arrest for traffic offenses such as DWI, and we decline to do so here for two reasons. First, specific to the facts of this case, the legislature has addressed the question of the authority of police officers acting out of their jurisdiction in the Act. We believe it is improper to circumvent the clear language of Section 31-2-8 by characterizing an officer's actions as a citizen's arrest in every instance of pursuit which goes beyond the authority conferred by the Act. To hold otherwise would render Section 31-2-8 useless. See State ex rel. Bird v. Apodaca, 91 N.M. 279, 573 P.2d 213 (1977). Moreover, we will not employ common law citizen's arrest powers as a vehicle to broaden the authority of police officers acting beyond their jurisdiction, because we envision such a holding as potentially creating problems more numerous and onerous than those arising from the question we decide today. As the court stated in Commonwealth v. Grise, 398 Mass. 247, 496 N.E.2d 162 (1986), [s]ince `breach of the peace' may be construed by laymen as a somewhat elastic concept, empowering private persons to arrest for such misdemeanors might only encourage `vigilantism and anarchistic actions'. Id. at 251, 496 N.E.2d 164-165. Facing a similar question in Settle v. State, 679 S.W.2d 310 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1007, 105 S.Ct. 2701, 86 L.Ed.2d 717 (1985), the Missouri court questioned the wisdom of authorizing stops and detention by private citizens for ordinance violations or traffic offenses, concluding such a grant of authority would invite more breaches of the peace than the number hoped to be prevented. Id. at 318. We share the concerns expressed by the courts in Grise and Settle in declining to justify the Los Alamos officer's arrest of defendant as a citizen's arrest. We believe it most appropriate and prudent to leave to the legislature the question of whether the Act should be amended to include pursuit of suspected DWI offenders. See Garrison v. Safeway Stores, 102 N.M. 179, 692 P.2d 1328 (Ct. App. 1984); Varos v. Union Oil Co. of Cal., 101 N.M. 713, 688 P.2d 31 (Ct.App. 1984). We agree with the statement in Grise, 398 Mass. at 252, 496 N.E.2d at 165, that there is a strong public policy ... against drunk driving, and [a] necessity for removing intoxicated motorists from the roads before they harm themselves or other persons. We also appreciate that these interests might best be served by allowing police officers to apprehend intoxicated motorists outside of the officers' territorial jurisdictions. However, we decline to reach this result through the circuitous route of empowering private persons to arrest for misdemeanors involving a breach of the peace. If the Legislature in its wisdom wishes to broaden the powers of police officers acting outside of their territorial jurisdictions, it may amend [the statute] to accomplish this purpose. [Citation omitted.]