Editorial: It's time for DOJ monitor to finish up oversight of APD

"There remains work to be done," court-appointed independent screen James Ginger says of reforms at the Albuquerque Cops Department.

That will always be the case-- with any police agency. The concern is when will APD finally come out from under federal oversight and when will the city lastly stop paying Ginger and his group $1.6 million a year?

After 9 years, the answers look encouraging.

Ginger's 17th Independent Monitor's Report states APD has actually reached near full compliance with the Court Approved Settlement Agreement after making substantial progress in back-to-back reporting durations. APD has actually reached 100% compliance in terms of officer training and 92% operational compliance. When it reaches 95% operational compliance, it will be at full compliance. The goal is lastly within sight.

There were severe issues within APD back in 2014 when the U.S. Department of Justice found APD had a pattern of utilizing extreme force with insufficient oversight, insufficient training and inefficient policies.

The federal oversight has actually produced results. APD officers are consistently using force less than they were 3 years ago and well-documented use-of-force investigations are now being produced in a timely way.

However, officers contended a record-high 18 individuals in 2022, up from 10 in 2021. Some of those cases included individuals apparently having psychological health crises. An internal review of those 18 shootings found officers are in some cases still failing to de-escalate and use less-lethal weapons. Because of APD's high number of officer-involved shootings, one of the significant factors the DOJ came in the first location was.

Ginger states some use-of-force events are still being misclassified and the quality of reviews by some members of the Force Review Board has reduced, however there will always be room for improvements in any company as big as APD.

The concern now is whether Ginger and his team must get a considerable pay cut given how close APD is to full compliance. The answer is yes.

The work of Ginger's team must be significantly less now that APD is self-assessing on lots of requirements of the CASA.

The city sent Ginger a letter on April 17 suggesting the Independent Monitoring Team take a 40% pay cut reliable June 1, from $133,000 a month to $80,000. The city's preliminary five-year contract with Ginger cost $4 million.

The city and Ginger are currently negotiating "an affordable amount that is fair to taxpayers," said an APD spokesman.

While the CASA has resulted in much-needed reforms, it's also proven very pricey in regards to tax dollars to pay Ginger, and the considerable amount of money the city bought the reform procedure for things like developing a Compliance Bureau and numerous other positions dealing directly with reform efforts and the obligations that come with self-assessment.

Ginger needs to concur to the pay cut, cover things up and get out of town, freeing up city cash for other much-needed functions. It's time to get out from under Ginger's watch.

This editorial initially appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is anonymous as it represents the opinion of the paper rather than the writers.