Since 2010, Albuquerque police have shot 40 people, 26 fatally. Above is a video of Albuquerque police shooting and killing James Boyd for illegal camping. The surfaced in March and seemed to have triggered the anti-police brutality activism. Recently the police department was ordered to pay over $6 million in a wrongful death suit to Christopher Torres’ family; Torres was schizophrenic and instead of contacting his Crisis Intervention Team, having a family member present, or even just showing him the warrant, well, they killed him.
Saturday a peaceful rally was held at which police chief Gorden Eden was given a mock trial for failing to address the brutality concerns since taking the post four months ago. At this rally, and at others, the police department has been sending undercover police officers to infiltrate and record the crowds. This has concerned not only the citizens of Albuquerque but the New Mexico ACLU. A protest in March was more chaotic with traffic disruptions and the release of tear gas on protestors.
The 2011 Review of Use of Force in the Albuquerque Police Department, put out by the Independent Review Office of the Police Oversight Commission of Albuquerque (it receives complaints about the police and investigates them, and is a part of the city) has some recommendations and suggestions but they are not mandatory; they mostly stress proper training and objective standards on use of force. The Department of Justice, hardly a paragon of restraint themselves, has even found reasonable cause that the Albuquerque police are acting excessively and have launched their own investigation. The Albuquerque Journal editorial board, representing the views of the newspaper, published an editorial criticizing police chief Eden for requiring that officers and staff notify command staff before talking to DoJ investigators, saying that it would change the tenor of the conversation. However, the editorial did point out that it was better than Eden’s former position: forbidding officers and staff from talking to DoJ investigators at all.
Facebook page Albuquerque PD in Crisis has information for those who want to stay involved.
While We Slept 