APD Meets DOJ Reform Requirements
The Albuquerque Police Department met all requirements in the Court-Approved Settlement Agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, marking the biggest milestone since the reform process started in January 2015.
The Independent Monitoring Team that oversees the settlement agreement issued its 19th report today. The Monitoring Team determined that APD reached “operational compliance” with all terms of the agreement. As a result, APD has achieved “full and effective compliance” under the agreement, meaning that the Court oversight can be terminated so long as APD is able to sustain compliance with the requirements. The report will be presented in federal court in June.
“The road to get here has not been easy, but we never gave up,” Mayor Tim Keller said. “We believed that real reform was possible. We believed that we could support law enforcement and maintain the highest standards of accountability, and we’ve done both.”
Watch a video with Mayor Keller’s full statement.
Most of all, I’d like to thank the officers who stayed with the Albuquerque Police Department and fought through these changes to make sure that we improved the services that we deliver to the citizens of the city of Albuquerque,” APD Chief Harold Medina said. “Reform shall never end for any police department. We should always be evolving to see how we could become a better police department, more in tune with the community, and always changing to meet the needs of an ever-changing society.”
Watch a video with Chief Medina’s full statement.
Some terms of the settlement agreement that are outside the control of APD, dealing with civilian oversight, have not yet been met. But today’s report means APD can move toward self-monitoring with all of its remaining sections that have not already been dismissed by the Court.
The report can be found on APD’s web site.
Mayor Keller and Chief Medina will hold a news conference on Friday to highlight the status of the settlement agreement and outline the next steps for reform.