Albuquerque police released additional bodycam of officers fatally shooting armed handcuffed suspect
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0:00 - Arrest
1:48 - Talking about searching
1:57 - Talking about patdown
2:20 - Removing pill bottle
2:57 - Offered a cigarette
3:18 - Inside the squad car
3:55 - Female officer shooting
5:27 - Male officer shooting
6:03 - Male officer shooting
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The fallout continues after the Albuquerque Police Department released new video and details after two officers shot a handcuffed man in October.
The officers killed Matthew Garcia when he was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car without frisking him. It all happened during a scuffle after he said he still had a gun.
Now, there’s new perspective from the New Mexico ACLU.
“Until we trust that the culture at APD is one that respects our rights and lives, and cares about the community, it is going to be really hard for the community to trust APD,” said Daniel Williams, a policing policy advocate at the ACLU and a member of the APD Forward Coalition.
The APD Forward Coalition is a group that, a decade ago, advocated for U.S. Department of Justice oversight on the department’s use of force.
Years later, the DOJ is packing up as two APD officers are caught at the center of another controversial shooting.
“There is this real disconnect between what we are hearing from the independent monitor, Department of Justice, from the court process about the consent decree and what we are experiencing in our community,” Williams said.
During a proactive drug operation Oct. 18 at the Tewa Lodge, officers took Garcia into custody without patting him down.
After 45 minutes in the back of a police SUV, with a gun, police scuffled with him. Then, they shot him 10 times, killing him while still handcuffed.
“Mistakes are going to be made by officers, and I have said it from the beginning. This administration has done a good job under this settlement agreement to recognize mistakes from misconduct. We will let this investigation complete its course, and we will come back with findings,” APD Chief Harold Medina said.
“Unfortunately, we have seen that this review process has not always worked the way it is supposed to or the way it is intended to. We think that while this was a tragedy and there is no denying that or changing that, we hope this can lead to some positive change if APD deems it necessary,” Williams said.