On November 27, 2012 the Department of Justice, in a joint statement with Mayor Berry and Chief Schultz announced that it was launching an investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) after a string of officer-involved shootings and high profile abuse cases that allege the use of excessive and deadly force.
APD officers have fired on 34 suspects since early 2010. APD has justified ALL of them.
22 of those shootings ended in fatalities, though in one case the suspect was killed by a State Police officer and in another it is not clear whether the person died from police fire. (Christopher Chase)
Of those 34, 10 were non-fatal, and in two cases APD shot at the suspect but didn’t hit them.
• In 2013, there were eight officer-involved shootings
• In 2012, there were six officer involved shootings
• In 2011, there were six officer involved shootings
• In 2010, there were fourteen officer involved shootings
Of the 34 men shot by police since 2010, 13 were not armed with guns. Many of them were armed with other “weapons” such as knives or in one case a brake pad. That number does not include some who were using a gun to threaten suicide.
The potential tab from lawsuits arising from police misconduct cases since 2010 is more than $26 million.
On December 19, 2013 the DOJ, in an e-mail addressed to “community leaders and concerned citizens” that they will host a meeting at the US Attorney’s office at 5 PM on Tuesday January 7, 2014 “for the purpose of discussing the status of the investigation and to elicit any additional insights you may wish to share for their review and consideration.” In follow-up e-mails on December 20, 2013 and January 2, 2014 the DOJ emphasized that the invitation was limited to those specifically invited and able to fit into a small meeting room.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Center Task Force For Public Safety which was formed in April of 2011 together with the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, Albuquerque Cop Watch, American Civil Liberties Union-NM, ANSWER Coalition NM, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center, National Alliance on Mental Illness–ABQ-Westside-NAMI, Vecinos United, and in cooperation with LULAC and the Hispanic Round Table, have agreed to advocate for an investigation of the APD in the wake of police involved shootings and killings. Such advocacy is consistent with the social justice aspirations and advocacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In addition, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center Task Force for Public Safety has submitted recommendations to the City on the hiring of a new police chief. Chief Schultz retired from the City in September 2013. And an interim chief now heads the department. We believe that the new police chief must not be hired until after the US DOJ report is finalized and distributed.
The primary purpose of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center Task Force for Public Safety is to:
• Work with the City of Albuquerque to address possible solutions or promote social change
• Request the United States Department of Justice investigation
• Allow the families of the victims to tell their stories
• Organize community informational forums
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center Task Force for Public Safety is committed to finding the answers to these troubling and tragic APD killings. We are equally committed to trying to do something proactive to address these problems. We will continue to pursue whatever actions and remedies are necessary to enact effective changes within APD’s operating procedures.
To do anything less would amount to silently condoning the way some officers within APD appear to believe that these killing are not only justifiable, they are even commendable.
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