The Albuquerque Police Department has introduced several changes it will be making as a result of a review of the 18 officer-involved shootings that occurred in 2022.
The department called the outcome of an officer-involved shooting “undesired” in a review posted on their website.
Also citing in the report that the department strives to avoid the use of deadly force in favor of de-escalation or less lethal force options.
Under APD’s current structure, an officer-involved shooting is considered the use of deadly force under the department's use of force policy, regardless of whether the individual is killed or even struck by law enforcement.
Under the use of force policy, the officer shall not use deadly force unless they have probable cause to believe an individual poses a significant threat of death or serious injury to the officer or anyone else.
The policy also says the officer must attempt to use de-escalation when feasible, prior to the use of deadly force and the use of it must be the minimum force necessary under the circumstances.
APD officials announced at a press conference Thursday that they will be adding more training scenarios for officers, so they are fully aware of the different options that exist to them.
Among the changes the department will be ushering in is increased training on hands-on/empty-handed tactics, increased consideration of less-lethal munitions, increased supervision, continued mentorship, additional equipment for officers, clearing scenes, wound care and future shooting reviews.
This list of changes was produced by an executive working group that was convened within the department to review and prepare these recommendations.
While the department had already established several mechanisms to review officer-involved shootings, during this holistic review of all the incidents in 2022 led to the identification of these additional steps.
Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said this is the next step in the department’s process of navigating the use of deadly force.
“This was 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. This was about us looking at us as an organization and seeing how we can be a much better organization and could have better outcomes.”
The 18 officer involved shootings in 2022 was a record year for the Albuquerque Police Department.