DOJ credits APD with ‘remarkable progress’
Judge and others concerned by harsh criticism in monitor’s report
Department of Justice attorneys said in court Wednesday the Albuquerque Police Department has made “remarkable progress” with its continuing reform effort and that the “big picture presents a positive outlook” for the department.
After listening to the DOJ discuss APD’s successes and the fact that officer-involved shootings have significantly decreased, U.S. District Judge Robert Brack questioned why the DOJ didn’t mention the “elephant in the room” — a reference to the ongoing problems the monitor overseeing reforms said he’s having with police leadership.
The judge also asked whether the federal agency is changing its approach to the reform effort in Albuquerque given that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that the DOJ plans to back off from consent decrees that about 20 police departments around the country, including Albuquerque, have to follow.
DOJ Civil Rights Attorney Luis Saucedo said the department remains committed to the reform
effort. He did not address Brack’s question regarding the monitor’s criticisms.
Albuquerque police are about two years into the process brought on by a DOJ investigation that found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force and a “culture of aggression.” Throughout the effort, James Ginger, an independent monitor, writes reports that analyze how the police are complying with the reforms.
His latest report, filed in court earlier this month, found that police have made considerable progress in some fronts, such as creating new policies and training officers on them.
But Ginger also found cases of “deliberate non-compliance,” and he said in the report that he’s noticed a “palpable shift” in the APD leadership’s attitude toward reform. He said the department’s highest ranking officers are failing to properly scrutinize use-offorce cases.
Brack said in court that he finds some aspects of the latest report “troubling.”
“It speaks to an attitude,” the judge said. “And I can’t have that attitude.”
Brack made his comments during a daylong hearing in Albuquerque on Wednesday, where he listened to presentations from the city, the police union, the DOJ, Ginger and stakeholders in the reform process. He holds the hearings after Ginger releases a report on police progress.
Police officials during the hearing presented data in court that showed police shootings and use-of-force cases are on the decline since the reform effort started. They also discussed training and other initiatives the department is undertaking to comply with the settlement.
“We appreciate the Department of Justice acknowledging the significant progress that has been made and we agree that there is still a significant amount of work to do and we will work together toward that goal,” City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said in an interview. “We hope that as we really start to focus on this next phase of operational compliance that there is a shared common goal of really making sure everyone understands the data and has all their questions answered.”
Ginger has organized Albuquerque police reforms into three categories: primary, secondary and operational compliance. The first two phases refer to creating policies and training officers on those policies. The third phase is how successful officers and supervisors are at putting those policies into practice on the streets.
Officials from APD Forward, a large collection of community groups that advocate for police reform, said they were concerned by the DOJ’s response to the monitor’s most recent report.
Saucedo didn’t spend much time discussing the monitor’s findings that were critical of police.
But Peter Simonson, the executive director of the ACLU in New Mexico and a spokesman for APD Forward, said the report was the “most damning” that has been issued by the monitor.
“My first thought was: Jeff Sessions has said they will be pulling back on these kinds of consent decrees. Is this what pulling back looks like in Albuquerque?” he said. “During one of the judge’s questions I suddenly realized that Mr. Saucedo was making the city’s defense arguments for it, when in fact his role is to be the prosecutor.
“This is an adversarial proceeding and it only works if one side is constantly pressing on the other to perform at its highest levels. It felt to me that Ginger was left hanging at that point.”
Ginger said in court that despite some improvements by Albuquerque police, the highest-ranking officers in many cases are failing to properly scrutinize officers’ use of force. He said a review of a random sample of cases that occurred between August 2016 and January 2017 found that lieutenants and commanders usually failed to find problems with use-offorce investigations that were sent up the chain of command.
“These problems should have been caught by supervisors,” Ginger said. “APD should beat the monitoring team to the punch on finding problems.”