ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to end the settlement agreement on police reforms. Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina revealed the news Monday afternoon shortly after New Mexico Senate Republicans announced they had asked the U.S. Attorney General to discontinue the consent decree.
Albuquerque police have been under the settlement agreement since 2014 after nearly two dozen officer-involved shootings and cases of excessive force. APD said it is in full compliance with the consent decree, except for three paragraphs that still need to be addressed.
Chief Medina said this latest deal came last Friday, before the Republicans’ letter to Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “A lot of these individuals, the senator from Farmington, have never spoken to the chief of the Albuquerque Police Department, has never come had a ride-along with our officers, and does not recognize that our officers deserve the credit, the credit for coming into full compliance,” said Chief Medina.
The chief said the settlement agreement should be dismissed sometime this spring, once the paperwork is finalized.