A lesser known, but possibly as disturbing, case of APD abuse is that of the late 2010 death of civil rights attorney Mary Han. APD quickly ruled it a suicide, but there was much more to the story (again courtesy the Free Press):



Han was prominent among civil rights and criminal defense attorneys, but was especially prominent for her success in bringing lawsuits against the Albuquerque Police Department, against which she had won judgments. News of Han’s death began to spread via texts and phone calls among APD officers and officials. Within an hour of [her law partner's] 911 call, every one of APD’s deputy chiefs was on the scene.

"One of two things happened that day. Either it was an absolute case of total incompetence by everyone involved, or it was cover-up. Those are the only two possibilities."

The story concluded with a view from a retired APD forensic investigator:To date that investigation remains, in my opinion, possibly the creepiest cover-up ever perpetrated by APD. (The author of that piece, David Correia, had his own brush with APD in the past year. He was arrested on a ludicrous charge of felony assault on an officer at a city council meeting.)

Then there is another heartbreaking story, that of the 2011 fatal shooting of a mentally ill young man, Christopher Torres, reported in the New Yorker. Unlike Boyd, Torres' parents were well-connected in city government. But that did not help avoid the insanely tragic ending of his life and the blue-washing of its account. As usual, the local media were all too happy to regurgitate the predictable lies put forth in the APD's version of the death:



The Torres family learned how Christopher died from watching the news the next day. At a press conference, the department’s chief public-safety officer said that two officers had tried to arrest Christopher at home, but, when he resisted and grabbed a gun from one of them, the officers felt that their lives were in danger. The local television stations ran an unflattering picture of Christopher with his eyes bugged out. One station reported that the “police suspected Torres is responsible for several violent road rage incidents around the city.” The police department said publicly that Christopher had a lengthy criminal history, which was untrue.

And so it has gone for years and years. For deeper historical perspective, this Weekly Alibi article (also penned by Correia) describes "an internal APD report showing that its officers killed 15 people between 1987 and 1991, a number that exceeded fatal shootings over the same period in Tucson, Austin, El Paso, Colorado Springs and Tulsa combined. Then, as now, the shooting victims included unarmed suspects." The story reveals that, aside from heightened public awareness, little has changed over the years.

Even after the nationwide outcry over Boyd, the D.O.J. intervention and Brandenburg's prosecution efforts, the dark forces within the APD are essentially just flipping off anyone in the community that stands up to them. Their tactic of arresting Correia on phony assault charges (which they dropped a few months later) appeared amateurish and stupid. But their ability to rule by fear of force remains unabated.

We can only hope and pray that, with an official with Brandenburg's rank openly expressing her safety concerns, something has got to give.

Update: Ten years in the community and this is my first time on the rec list, thank you all !

Thought I would throw in this LA Times article which has some deeper info on the tug-of-war over Brandenburg's son and another example of police "flipping off" (as I describe it) Brandenburg's office the day after she announced the charges. Also has some follow-up on the outcome of the Torres case.