CNN/David Fitzpatrick and Drew Griffin, 6/20/14. "Video shows Albuquerque police killing homeless man."
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| Shooting of mentally ill, homeless man in Albuquerque. 26 killings of mentally ill since 2011 |
"Albuquerque, New Mexico (CNN) -- Albuquerque police
shot a homeless man in the back and killed him, and it was all caught on
gruesome detail in a police video. It is just one more in a long line of police killings that has the city's Police Department on the verge of federal oversight.
Records show that 26 people have been killed by city police in Albuquerque since 2010, a per capita rate of officer-involved deaths higher than New York City and Chicago. Forty people have been wounded by police over the same period of time. So far, the city has paid out $30 million in settlements and officials acknowledge that amount will grow.
Records show that 26 people have been killed by city police in Albuquerque since 2010, a per capita rate of officer-involved deaths higher than New York City and Chicago. Forty people have been wounded by police over the same period of time. So far, the city has paid out $30 million in settlements and officials acknowledge that amount will grow.
In a report written before James Boyd's shooting, the U.S. Department of Justice blamed the Police Department for poor training and said "we find that the department engages in a pattern or practice
of using excessive force during the course of arrests and other
detentions in violation of the Fourth Amendment." Boyd's death has been
added to the list of questionable killings.
In April 2011, a young
Albuquerque man -- whose parents had contacted police because he had
mental health issues -- was killed in his own backyard by two
plainclothes police. The officers had come to
the home of Christopher Torres on an arrest warrant issued the month
before. They said he was armed and shot him in the back as they wrestled
on the ground. Torres' parents, Stephen
and Renatta Torres, say he was holding a broomstick, which he laid down
when police approached. They sued police, and a judge awarded them $6 million in a civil judgment, saying the police testimony was "not credible." Read article. The article includes a 6:22 minute video, with what the police there consider a "justified" killing of James Boyd.
Related Fix Pacifica reprint article - "Use of force by police...", CNN, and see related Huffington Post articles.
Note photograph - courtesy of APD from Albuquerque Journal, 5/30/14.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
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