City reduces payment to DOJ Monitor as APD reaches end of Settlement Agreement

ALBUQUERQUE – The City of Albuquerque negotiated a 30% reduction to the payment to the Independent Monitoring Team that oversees the Court Approved Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and APD.

APD reached 92% operational compliance as part of the settlement agreement in the most recent report published by the Monitoring Team. That means APD is close to reaching full compliance.

The city agreed to pay the team led by James Ginger about $1.1 million for the budget year that started in July 2023, which was reduced from the $1.6 million annual payment the city had paid in the past. The cost will be re-evaluated around January 2024 to determine the rate for the next budget year.

“After making the initial offer, the City engaged with negotiations with Dr. Ginger and reached agreement on a reasonable amount based on the expected workload for the team of monitors,” said Lawrence Rael, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer. “This amount will be subject to renegotiation in the future as APS assumes more responsibility about the monitoring team’s workload is reduced.”

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