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By Josiah Ward
Controversies over policing and use of force nationwide have led the Corrales Police Department to examine its own policies. After the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, protesters took to the streets to demand that officers be held accountable and that reforms be made. Across the nation, the procedures, training, and practices of police departments were questioned.
Within the last month, the use of force by police officers has been called into question once again after a police officer fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And earlier this month, Albuquerque police fatally shot a man in what is thought to have been aรย sucide-by-cop incident. This year, APD has fatally shot subjects six times, five of which ended fatally.
Public outcry has once again called for examination and reform of police departmentรขโฌโขs policies.
These national events have led to reforms nationwide; including in Corrales. According to Corralesรขโฌโข Chief of Police, Victor Mangiacapra, รขโฌลThe use of force incidents that have been taking place over the last couple yearsรขโฌยฆ have prompted us to look at our policies and then essentially tweak them where necessary.รขโฌย
In 2020, the Corrales Police Department issued its first รขโฌลuse of forceรขโฌย policy to clearly outline the procedures that officers should be taking. The Corrales Police Department has not received an excessive use of force complaint since 2015, and a review of the departmentรขโฌโขs use of force policy is set for Feburary 2025.
รขโฌลIf circumstances reasonably permit, officers will use time, distance, verbal persuasion or other tactics to de-escalate the situation. And that was the understanding, but it was not in writing,รขโฌย Chief Mangiacapara went on to say.
According to the policy, รขโฌลAn officer must exercise control of an individual displaying resitance or aggression in order to protect himself/herself or others from an immediate threat. The level of force employed must be commensurate with the threat posed by the subject of the seriousness of the immediate situation.รขโฌย
Using proper force has also been integrated into officer training. These policies are reviewed รขโฌลseveral times a year,รขโฌย Mangiacapara said. It is mandated that use of force training is reviewed during the bi-annual firearms training for officers.
Corrales police are scheduled to train with the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department using a virtual reality simulator. รขโฌลWeรขโฌโขre not only going to review the use of force policies again, but also do a scenario based training,รขโฌย explained Mangiacapara. The training aims to help officers make correct decisions on using lethal force or not.
Mangiacapara also detailed that the department was currently working on getting all of their officers through crisis intervention training in order to prepare officers for any person that may be experiencing a mental health emergency.
Mangiacapara stressed the importance of officers remaining calm and allowing, รขโฌลcooler heads to prevail,รขโฌย in the field. รขโฌลYou want to try and set the tone and maintain a calm demeanor,รขโฌย he explained.
Even with unruly or resistant suspects, Mangiacapara stated that they would be treated with รขโฌลa minimal amount of force,รขโฌย in order to รขโฌลkeep them from being a threat to the officers, themselves, or to bystanders.รขโฌย However, he warned that, รขโฌลIf you fail to obey a lawful order, or comply with a lawful arrest, then that could be another criminal charge.รขโฌย
Aside from training and preparing officers for the field, Mangiacapara said, รขโฌลIt really starts at the beginning,รขโฌย adding,รย รขโฌลWe try to hire that officer without that aggressive demeanor.รขโฌย
Mangiacapara said that much of the recruiting done by the department was done through รขโฌลword of mouth.รขโฌย However, the department does have job listings posted on the Village website, the New Mexico Municipal League website, Indeed.com, and the Albuquerque Journal.
To retain officers, a pay increase was given in April. รขโฌลThe pay increase was implemented not only to recruit, but also retain police officers, and the department is participating in the state-funded program resulting from House Bill 68 which provides retention stipends of five percent of their annual salary to officers with four, nine, 14 and 19 years of service,รขโฌย he explained.
In an emailรย the police chief said, รขโฌลCPD strives to cultivate a favorable work environment by recruiting and retaining the highest quality officers available, maintaining open communications and transparency within the department and seeking out the best possible training and equipment accessible for personnel to be able to safely and effectively do their jobs.รขโฌย