by Jerilyn Bowen
We all watched in horror as the life went out of George Floyd under the impassive knee of the sadistic little man in blue on May 25th in Minneapolis. Since then, uprisings against police brutality and racial injustice have swept the country and the world. New Mexico is no exception. Nor should it be, given in particular the squalid record of killings and other rank abuses of power by a militarized police force in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque Area
Under immense public pressure, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has announced an intention to establish a new cabinet-level department of city government dedicated to dealing with many of the problems that police have up to now been handling–mental illness, homelessness, addiction, public drunkenness, abandoned cars and similar matters. The new Albuquerque Community Safety Department will dispatch unarmed, specially trained professionals to address such problems in a sensible nonviolent and caring way that recognizes the deep structural problems that produce so much of this misery–namely, poverty and social injustice. This groundbreaking measure could well serve as a model for other cities around the country.
Mayor Keller will look at “restructuring and reallocating resources” so as to build funding of the new department into the budget he’ll submit to the City Council in August, a budget to be discussed and likely made final by the end of October. Renewal of the APD contract with the city has meanwhile been postponed for review regarding stipulations designed to protect officers from being held accountable for abuse and misconduct.