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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Members of Albuquerque’s Police Oversight Board say they are being ignored by the police officials rewriting numerous department policies as part of a years-long reform underway aimed to curb excessive force.

The concerns were reignited at a recent oversight board meeting when a former U.S. Magistrate Lorenzo Garcia told board members that much of the policy development process going on within Albuquerque police was “privileged.”

He said that like any member of the public, board members could send police policy suggestions. But he said the policies were being written behind closed doors among attorneys with the city and DOJ.

“There is an issue of privileged,” Garcia told board members. “We’re in the milieu of litigation. … If you are not a party to the litigation or have not been allowed intervention by (U.S. District Court ) Judge (Robert) Brack, I would surmise that is why you are not on the list.”

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DOJ officials, however, reached out in an email to the oversight board and several community organizations shortly after Garcia’s presentation and said the monitoring team wanted to have a meeting with several community groups, including a separate meeting with the oversight board members, to discuss policy development. The meetings will take place during the monitoring team’s upcoming site visit this month, according to emails.

Garcia was hired in March to help Albuquerque police rewrite certain policies after Albuquerque police’s policy development was blasted by the independent monitor overseeing the reforms. James Ginger, the monitor, said the policy-writing process was confusing and disjointed, and Garcia was hired to help the department.

Oversight board members were not pleased with his take on the policy-making process.

“We were really disappointed with what he had to say,” board member Joanne Fine said. “We’ve been very frustrated with our role and our access to policy making, and it’s supposed to be the majority of what we do.”

Albuquerque’s civilian oversight system was revamped last year as part of the reform effort that stemmed from a DOJ investigation, which found Albuquerque police had a pattern of excessive force.

The DOJ said weak civilian oversight contributed to that pattern.

Currently, the department is having to rewrite about 30 policies and start to train officers on those policies as part of the years-long reform effort.

Oversight board members have continually said they are being ignored by police officials. The ordinance that created the board instructs it to spend more than 50 percent of the time analyzing and making recommendations about police policies. But members said that’s not happening.

“APD feels like they can simply ignore us. We write letters, we submit policies and we hear nothing back,” Beth Mohr, the chair of the board, said during a recent meeting. “We’re just trying to get our foot in the door.”

Mohr specifically raised concerns in a letter to Police Chief Gorden Eden that the oversight board members were not allowed to comment on Albuquerque police’s new use-of-force policy, on which officers are being trained.

Mohr sent a letter to Eden that recommended several specific changes to the policy, such as using “reasonableness” instead of “feasible” when guiding officers on what level of force to use. But that change wasn’t made.

City Attorney Jessica Hernandez, however, said the board is actively involved in the policy-writing process – more so than any other entity outside of the DOJ, the city and the monitoring team. She said many new policies, including the use-of-force policy, will soon be reviewed and possibly modified as a term of the settlement agreement. She said board members will be able to give comments during that review.

Hernandez said board members’ recommendations also are being considered during the policy development phase.

“I think we could look for ways we can improve communication from the department on what is being done with (the board’s) suggestions,” she said.