The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has announced officers will receive more targeting training related to the use of deadly force after a review of last year’s police shootings.
During a recent news conference, the department outlined seven areas to be addressed. According to KRQE, the list includes increasing the use of hands-on or empty-handed techniques, increasing consideration of the use of less lethal munitions, increasing supervision on certain types of calls, continued mentorship with younger, inexperienced officers, new equipment for officers, policies surrounding how quickly scenes are cleared, and more immediate wound care.
Some of the topics will be addressed in continued department training, expected to begin in April, with 20 hours of classroom time and 20 hours of reality-based training.
“This [presentation] was [designed] to help improve the department, this wasn’t about us re-looking and re-disciplining officers, this wasn’t about us placing blame on officers,” APD Police Chief Harold Medina said at the news conference. “This was about looking at us as an organization and seeing how we could be a much better organization and how we could have better outcomes.”
Medina made the announcement as the agency continues to address reform under a Department of Justice settlement agreement signed in 2014. Medina said he plans to hold comprehensive police shooting reviews every six months in the future to continue transparency in the realm of officers using deadly force and to “catch trends” earlier.
The police department said, in November, it recorded 54 shootings over the prior five years.
Among the department's list of changes is to increase hands-on or empty-handed techniques. APD’s accountability bureau deputy chief Cori Lowe said officers already train on the techniques but will get more frequent training.
“Officers already are required to attend more than 80 hours of training, and supervisors [attend] more than 100 hours of training for 2023,” Lowe said. “We want to evaluate options on how we can provide additional training such as defensive tactics.”
The department also highlighted a goal of increasing the consideration surrounding the use of less lethal munitions.
“We focused on areas such as passive and active resistance and totality of circumstances as [well] as when they can use less lethal munition, making it more consistent,” Lowe said.
The police are also hoping to increase supervision in situations that could lead to officer-involved shootings. Lowe said in several 2022 shooting cases, the department saw “critical situations that could have benefitted from a supervisor on scene.”
To improve, the APD says it wants to revise policies to include types of calls that require a supervisor to respond. The department also wants to change policies surrounding calls for service that normally wouldn’t have a supervisor but evolve into a crisis.
The police also hope additional equipment can help officers, including ballistic shields and magnifying optics on rifles.
The APD is also looking into how quickly officers clear scenes. Finally, police say they’ll work to emphasize more immediate medical care for suspects who’ve been shot.