By Rodd Cayton
Federal oversight of the Albuquerque Police Department is over.
The city and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a joint motion in federal court Friday to release the department from monitoring connected to high numbers of excessive-force incidents and police shootings.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge James O. Browning officially dismissed the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), ending more than a decade of federal oversight of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).
The CASA was put in place in 2015. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said Monday the agreement has run its course.
“We are proud to stand by the men and women of the Albuquerque Police Department and ask the court to terminate this consent decree,” Dhillon said. “Albuquerque Police operates [sic] constitutionally. It is now appropriate to end federal oversight and return full control of local law enforcement to the city.”
A Justice Department news release lists several areas of improvement:
Reductions in the frequency and severity of use-of-force incidents; The number of incidents declined by 18% from 2021 to 2022, and more than 60% involved only low-level force. Only 4% of those cases were found to be not in compliance with department policy, and each was met with appropriate corrective action.
Crisis Response: Less than 1% of behavioral health and suicide-related calls involved force, and Albuquerque Community Safety has diverted tens of thousands of calls from police to civilian responders.
Accountability and oversight: APD reviews every use of force, sustains misconduct findings when appropriate, and has strengthened its internal and civilian oversight systems.
Training and culture: officers are receiving consistent, CASA-aligned training, and data show “a shift toward a culture of self-correction and accountability.”
“This progress marks a turning point for the APD,” the release states. “With sustained improvements across every core area of the agreement, the Justice Department and the city are confident that APD is ready to move forward independently, continuing its commitment to constitutional policing.”
Taylor Rahn, the lead attorney representing APD in the settlement agreement, said the department has achieved 100% compliance with all of the terms of the agreement.
“After years of hard work, we’ve defied the odds and delivered,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a news release. “I want to thank our officers and our community for sticking with the reforms, showing up every day, and making this moment happen. We’ve always believed that we can support law enforcement, build trust, and uphold the highest standards, and today, we’ve proven these values work together to create a stronger department.”
The CASA was enacted in 2014 following a DOJ investigation that revealed patterns of excessive force. Over the past 11 years, APD underwent a rigorous transformation, embracing new policies, increasing transparency and embedding accountability into its daily operations.
“It wasn’t an easy road, but we continued to push forward and slowly this team and all of our officers became accustomed to what was necessary to get into compliance,” Chief Harold Medina said. “This is a victory for the men and women of the Albuquerque Police Department who have changed their culture. They are the ones that have put the most blood, sweat and tears into this, faced the most scrutiny. They have done a wonderful job at changing the culture of the Albuquerque Police Department.”
Daniel Williams of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico said it’s important to look at the dismissal of the agreement as a key step in an ongoing process.
“The consent decree really has led to some improvement,” Williams said. “Improvement APD clearly would not have made on their own. We’re grateful for that.”
He said the work of reforming the department isn’t done, and the community will keep watching.
“New Mexico still has one of the highest rates of people killed by police, and APD is a big chunk of that,” Williams said. “This can’t be the end of reform. It should be the beginning of a new phase. A focus on building trust will lead to a department that keeps all of us safe while respecting all of our rights.”
Eric Garcia is the superintendent of police reform at APD. He said he’s proud of the progress made so far and that more of the same will follow.
“Officers are still going to be held accountable, we’re still going to investigate officer misconduct and we’re still going to investigate all uses of force,” Garcia said.