Officials
call for Police Oversight Comm. overhaul
A city group in charge of investigating complaints against
Albuquerque police may be in for a major makeover.
A recent, explosive
meeting is adding to the effort to bring about changes to the Police Oversight
Commission in Albuquerque.
It was supposed to be
another opportunity for residents to voice their complaints about the
Albuquerque Police Department.
But a Dec. 13
Commission meeting went awry when commissioner rearranged discussion items on
the meeting agenda.
That meant public
comment wasn’t allowed when it came to allegations of conflict of interest regarding
then-Chairwoman Linda Martinez.
Officers even removed
one man from the meeting at the request of Martinez.
The Albuquerque City
Council appoints Commission members.
Council President Dan
Lewis and Councilor Don Harris said they hope proposed changes to the
Commission will prevent similar incidents from happening again.
In part, they want to
clear up commission meeting rules regarding public comment.
"Right now, there's been a lot of concerns and we're
trying to make a systemic change to the police oversight process so that going
forward we can restore that faith," said Don Harris.
Harris and Lewis will introduce proposals at the council’s
Feb. 4 meeting asking to implement seven of 25 recommendations from a 2011
independent study on the oversight commission.
One recommendation is for the Commission’s Independent
Review Office to be provided with an analyst to monitor citizen complaints.
None of the commission members would talk on the issue
Sunday.
The city plans on holding public forums about the commission
in the coming months.