Albuquerque police reclaims oversight in investigating use of force

The Albuquerque Police Department is once again in control of investigating the most serious use-of-force cases involving its officers — more than two years after oversight was handed to an external team as APD was struggling to police itself.

The federal Department of Justice and the monitoring team overseeing APD’s reform effort agreed this month to transition Level 2 and 3 use-of-force investigations from the External Force Investigation Team (EFIT) back to the Internal Affairs Force Division (IAFD).

A Level 2 use of force is one that causes, or could cause, injury, while a Level 3 incident is one that leads to, or could lead to, serious injury, death or hospitalization.

It was in July 2021 that EFIT — a team of investigators with law enforcement experience — began training IAFD how to properly investigate use-of-force cases, after Independent Monitor James Ginger blasted APD, saying it had “failed miserably in its ability to police itself.” By that time, a backlog of hundreds of cases had built up. Another function of EFIT was to clear those cases.

Ginger has mostly changed his tune since then, as APD made substantial progress in its Court-Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) with the DOJ, reaching 94% operational compliance — the final measure — in the latest report.

A crucial part of those compliance gains, according to the monitoring team, came from higher-quality use-of-force investigations by IAFD under EFIT’s guidance.

APD officials said IAFD resuming control of use-of-force investigations marked “another key milestone” in the department’s reform effort.

“This is a major accomplishment and one of the most meaningful changes we’ve made as a department,” APD Chief Harold Medina said in a statement. “It is critical that we are able to conduct our own, thorough and professional use-of-force investigations.”

The city of Albuquerque entered into the CASA in 2014 after the DOJ determined APD officers displayed a pattern of excessive force.

While Ginger praised the progress made by IAFD investigators and supervisors in his latest report, he also raised concerns about APD’s top brass not heeding IAFD’s findings, deeming a fatal police shooting as being in line with APD policy when it wasn’t.

Prior to the switch, EFIT, DOJ and the city of Albuquerque developed a six-part transition plan for IAFD “to complete investigations in a timely, thorough, and fair manner” without EFIT’s assistance, according to a notice filed in U.S. District Court.

An APD spokesman said 14 of IAFD’s investigators, made up of sworn personnel and civilians, were still under EFIT’s watch when APD took the reins. Eleven investigators had previously graduated from EFIT’s guidance to conduct investigations on their own.

IAFD’s transition plan includes a manual and orientation program for new investigators, as well as on-the-job training that pairs them with experienced IAFD personnel and replicates EFIT’s function, according to court records. IAFD also created a rubric for evaluating whether investigations and case reviews follow policy and a dashboard to track cases and personnel performance.

The notice said that as part of the transition, APD staffed an IAFD deputy commander as the quality control manager “to ensure consistency amongst commanding officer reviews, replicating the EFIT Executive Team’s similar function.”

Lastly, according to court records, the plan outlines that EFIT will remain available to assist IAFD at APD’s request, and the department will regularly document IAFD’s ability “to train personnel and complete investigations within timelines.”

Court records show APD will also send DOJ and EFIT weekly reports on IAFD’s casework and its training program for new investigators.

“IAFD has demonstrated its capacity to complete investigations in a timely, thorough, and fair manner. IAFD has also set up systems to independently train, mentor, and oversee personnel going forward,” according to court records. “Returning the responsibility for Level 2 and Level 3 force investigations back to APD while EFIT continues working on the backlog also provides the Parties, the Monitor, the Court, and the public an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of APD’s systems for investigating force, with a backstop still available if it is needed.”

Meanwhile, the EFIT team will be focusing all of its energy on clearing the 197 of APD’s remaining use-of-force cases in the backlog. EFIT has so far cleared 470 of the backlogged cases.

Because the investigations of backlogged cases are past due, if officers violated policies, they couldn’t be disciplined.

The next federal hearing on APD’s reform efforts is set for Jan. 4.