In the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department, the Police Oversight Board was formed in 2015 to keep the APD accountable to the community, and to foster a trusting relationship between police and the public.
They provide investigative impartiality to police and citizens when complaints arise, gather data to predict rising trends and provide policy guidance to the city council, mayor and chief of police.
The Daily Lobo will be attending and reporting on these meetings. Here’s a rundown of the last meeting:
Sept. 8:
Citizens may be able to weigh in on new APD policies prior to their approval
The board wants to insert a step into the oversight flowchart where potential policies will be presented to the public for comment.
Board member Susanne B. Brown said both they and the public need to be integrated into the policy change process.
Board member Joanne Fine said their job is to strengthen the input of civilians, which the proposed change aims to achieve.
Civilian Police Oversight Agency Executive Director Edward Harness said this would make policy more efficient as it would also allow the board to have more advanced notice of changes.
Use of Force
At the Thursday meeting, POB found there to be reasonable evidence of unjustified use of force in one case.
Investigators found excessive knee strikes to the torso during an arrest while three officers were present, and officers, “D” and “F,” as they were referred to, are frequently cited in use of force cases.
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This particular arrest resulted in broken bones. Harness said the investigators questioned the knee strikes as they were not necessary to complete the arrest.
Database Misuse
The National Crime Information Center, is the database law enforcement accesses when running license plates and is used to find national warrants.
In one case brought to the board, there was inappropriate use of this database by APD officers.
The POB transferred this case to APD’s internal affairs unit, but internal affairs found no misuse. The POB feels the internal affairs investigation was not conducted thoroughly and recommended the case be referred to the N.M. Department of Public Safety and, potentially, the FBI.
Board member Beth Mohr said she feels this database misuse may be a systemic problem, as this has happened multiple times.
