NM Police Involved in Shootings Given Union Checks

From trivalleycentral.com -Albuquerque police officers involved in a rash of fatal shootings over the past two years were paid up to $500 under a union program that some have likened to a bounty system in a department with a culture that critics have long contended promotes brutality. Mayor Richard Berry called Friday for an immediate halt to the practice, which was first reported in the Albuquerque Journal during a week in which Albuquerque police shot and killed two men. Since 2010, Albuquerque police have shot 23 people, 18 fatally. “The administration has nothing to do with how the union conducts their business,” Berry said in a statement, “but I was shocked yesterday when made aware of this practice. I cannot stand aside and condone this practice — it needs to end now.” Although the union said the payments were intended to help the officers decompress from a stressful situation, one victim’s father and a criminologist said it sounded more like a reward program.  More News New Mexico

NM Police Involved in Shootings Given Union Checks