Outside team to assist Albuquerque police internal affairs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The city of Albuquerque and the U.S. Department of Justice have proposed a plan to temporarily assist Albuquerque Police Department internal affairs investigators.

An outside team is expected to correct issues as they arise and train detectives on how to improve their job performance. The proposal was filed in federal court and agreed to by the city, the justice department and an independent monitor overseeing police reform.

The monitor has said the police department failed at every level to regulate itself.

“We welcome the resources and expertise as we make these changes to our use-of-force investigations,” APD Interim Chief Harold Medina said. “While this is a temporary solution, our longer-term goal is to build an internal investigative process that addresses the overall reform of the department.”

In addition, the city agreed to add more use-of-force investigators, receive additional technical assistance, develop a written investigative process that must be approved by the Independent Monitor and DOJ and that will be filed with the court, and create a training for the investigators.