Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden threw out a word of advice to the Albuquerque police union on Thursday: Don’t dig in your heels as the city negotiates with the Department of Justice over reforms designed to bring officers’ use of force under control. ….
Eden made the comment in response to a question at a presentation to the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau. Some members of the group wanted to know how to assure visitors that Albuquerque is safe and worthy of investment amid national media attention and federal scrutiny of APD.
Next week, the DOJ is expected to present the city with a draft consent decree outlining changes it thinks the department needs to make. The DOJ this spring released a report finding that APD had a pattern or practice of violating civil rights through its use of force.
APD officers have shot and killed 26 people since 2010.
Eden said unions in other cities that have undergone similar DOJ reviews have had much of their “power stripped” if they don’t cooperate in negotiations.
