Mayor and police chief tout success in federally mandated reform effort

May 17—Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina did a victory lap Friday — tracing the path of the city's consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice from "the brink of catastrophic failure" to reaching full compliance.

Medina recalled watching the newscast in April 2014 when it was announced that DOJ found the department displayed "a pattern or practice of excessive force that violated the constitutional rights of those shot or harmed by its officers."

"To be honest, Commander Harold Medina was a little bit at odds with what was said. I didn't completely believe we were that bad. But this is how this process changes you," he said. "2024 Chief Harold Medina tells you the best thing that ever happened to the Albuquerque Police Department was the settlement agreement."

Appearing to turn emotional, he concluded, "It changed us. It made us better, and we are a much better police department because of it. And that is the most important thing that we recognize now. We needed change, and it's important."

The hourlong briefing came days after APD announced that it had come into full compliance with the Court-Approved Settlement Agreement.

The latest report from Independent Monitor James Ginger, which covered August 2023 through January, found APD reached 96% operational compliance, which tracks if officers follow policies and are corrected when they don't.

APD needed to reach 95% to be considered in full compliance.

If the department can maintain those compliance levels for two years, the consent decree may be terminated. City Attorney Lauren Keefe said Friday APD is in negotiations with DOJ on when the clock starts on the two years.

Ginger's latest report, however, also noted issues with the Civilian Police Oversight Agency, which investigates civilian complaints against officers, due to low staffing and heavy caseloads.

As APD made its largest gains in compliance over the past few years, Albuquerque police shootings spiked to record levels. APD officers shot, or shot at, 18 people in 2022 and 14 people in 2023.

This year, APD officers have shot, or shot at, seven people, including a man who allegedly pointed a gun at them hours before Friday's briefing.

Keller said an increase in police shootings correlates more to "crime in general" than a lack of reforms. He said the measure of reform is based not on the number of police shootings but on whether they are unconstitutional and, when they are, whether officers are held accountable.

"That's what the CASA is about," Keller said. "It's about a department being able to both train and use, when necessary, constitutional force. And when it is not constitutional, hold themselves accountable and hold those officers accountable."

For most of the briefing, Keller and Medina traced the highs and lows of the consent decree, with charts that showed the progress made by each police chief and mayoral administration.

Keller praised Medina for instituting changes that increased compliance after he replaced former Chief Mike Geier in 2020, and Medina thanked Keller for choosing him.

Among the milestones Keller and Medina identified along the way were the creation of APD's Compliance Bureau, creating scorecards tracking compliance across the department, establishing the Superintendent of Police Reform position and regular meetings to hold department leaders accountable for compliance gains in their area.

Keller said those changes led to "a pivotal milestone" for the department and city.

"There's also no question that the work continues and that we have more to do," he said.